


Clipped Wings

by tatakai



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, and abuse, and hurt animals and hunting, forest creature au thing, hunter levi, i think thats it, nymph, transman jean and cisman marco, warning for death, winged armin, winged eren, winged mikasa, ymir and levi friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-03-11 22:29:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 44,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3335108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatakai/pseuds/tatakai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>winged nymph! eren and hunter! levi. Erwin shoots down Eren when he flies in, trying to make peace with the humans. Levi finds Eren and has to decide whether to help Eren or let Erwin cut Eren's wings off. Meanwhile, Ymir and Levi strike a deal involving Eren and a few other hunters make connections with nymphs as well. nymph au, ereri focused. warnings for abuse - Reibert is chap 6 and 8. JeanMarco is 10.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nymph

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: in this one fic, the eruri part is abusive. Not that I think eruri is abusive, or that in character Erwin is bad or abusive or any of that, but I *did* make him abusive in this one fic. So warning for ooc abusive Erwin. He is emotionally manipulative and possessive. Please, don't read this if that is something you can't handle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so think of the nymphs abilities like bending from avatar/korra

Eren POV

I had always been a little different. I wasn’t the usual nymph who hid away in fear of the hunters, I had always been curious about them and the way they lived. It might be naïve, or idealistic, but I sometimes thought we could achieve peace between the forest creatures and the humans. I wanted to meet one of them, maybe talk to them. I flew much closer to the human’s lands than Mikasa or Armin dared to go, and I had been chewed out many, many times because of it.

“Eren, you’re going to get hurt.” Mikasa said to me as she saw me land on the tree branch that lead to our home in the tree. I tucked my fluffy wings behind me and walked over to her, my feet tingling with the feel of being in a tree after my long flight over the humans’ lands. I was the only one out of the group of us that lived here that could fly for so long without any back pain.

This was because I was a healing nymph, so my injuries during sustained flight healed themselves easily. There were limits to my healing abilities, of course. If I took too much damage, I would die. My powers were also less effective on others. The stronger my bond with the one I was healing, the better. When my mother was alive, she would heal Mikasa and me almost instantly. She loved us that much. My father was one of the strongest healing nymphs there was, and he travelled all over healing total strangers. He was the nymphs’ doctor, and I sometimes felt inadequate trying to live up to him.

Mikasa, on the other hand, was an earth nymph. She communicated with the earth in ways neither Armin nor I could understand. She and the other earth nymphs had built this settlement for us band of nymphs, bending the trees to form tree houses high in the forest. Branches and vines weaved together to form walls and a floor and ceiling. It was incredible to watch, and I never understood.

That was okay, though, neither Mikasa nor Armin would ever totally understand healing. When I touched another being, I instantly knew what was wrong with them. I could detect the slightest pain, even the being was pretending to be okay. The detecting was easy; the healing was hard. It took an incredible amount of energy to heal. I had to connect with the being, synch my own body with theirs, and then focus all my spirit into healing them. It was an indescribable feeling… our bodies humming together as one… even our heart beats would align. The rest of the earth fell away.

I wondered if that’s how Mikasa felt when she made trees grow to make houses, or when she brought up fresh food from seeds planted in the garden. I wondered if that’s how Armin, our friend the water nymph, felt when he swam with the fish he communicated with, or when he called the water out of the stream and brought it wherever the band needed it.

 I sometimes felt jealous of the other nymph with abilities like that. They were useful every single day. We ate food the earth nymphs grew every single day; we drank the fresh spring water the water nymphs called for us every single day; we warmed ourselves by the fire the fire nymphs made every single night; we relied on the air nymph’s superior speed and agility in the air to protect us every single day. Those nymphs made up the bulk of the population, and for good reason. The rest of us – the healing nymphs that healed the sick and wounded, the beast nymphs who communicated with animals, and the metal and rock nymphs who could form various little things – were not useful every single day, and it made us feel bad sometimes. The band always tried to make us feel better, talking about how without the beast nymphs we wouldn’t have peace with animals, or how without the metal and rock nymphs we couldn’t form weapons for the others to use, or how without my kind, we couldn’t heal as quickly. I always rolled my eyes at that.

When had I been useful? Some of the elder healing nymphs certainly were useful when it came to healing people, and my mother and father had been fantastic healers when the band needed them, but I was useless. I wasn’t necessary. I healed cuts and scrapes and the common cold just fine, but any more than that and I was as helpless as an air nymph with clipped wings.

Mikasa must have picked up on my change in mood, because the vine closest to me reached over and stroked my face.

“God, Mikasa! I’m fine! Stop it!” I moved away from the vine and sat down on my bed. It was a one room house, like all the other nymph houses where there weren’t children. Mated nymphs who had children had a two room house so the parents could have some privacy when mating. My half of the room was the left half, and Mikasa’s was the right half. She was sitting on her bed, her silky raven wings tucked behind her gracefully, with a little tree in a pot in front of her. Both her hands were submerged in the soil.

“I would hug you but I’m with this plant right now. The vine is all I can manage. Eren, accept your sisters love.” She was teasing me. The vine closest to my bed stroked my face. It was soft and almost felt like a human finger. I leaned away after a moment.

“There.” I huffed, laying down on my stomach. Mikasa hummed.

“What’s that?” I asked about the pot.

“A new species I’m making.” She smiled at me, the top of her mouth just barely visible over the red scarf. “It’s going to be a sweet fruit that will hopefully survive in the winter on its own.” Wow. This was the kind of shit I was talking about. She was making food for us to last the whole winter by making a whole new fucking species. I snuggled my face down in my crossed arm, feeling awful for a second.

“Healing nymphs are important” She said gently. She knew how I felt about my nymph type.

“They are only important once someone is hurt, which rarely happens cause we are so careful and know the forest so well, Mikasa.”

“Eren-“

“And even then, it’s the elders that are useful, not me. I can barely heal and god damn papercut.”

“Eren! That’s not true and you know it!” She reached a vine out and smacked me. Ugh, vine smacks hurt. The mark it left healed before the vine was back in it’s place.

“Is that why you keep taking so many risks? You feel like you’re not important, so it doesn’t matter if hunters kill you for your wings?”

I sat up. “No, Mikasa, I ‘take so many risks’ because I want to meet a human!” She gasp, taking her hands out of the pot.

“Eren!”

“I mean it Mikasa! I want to know. All I do is sleep and eat. I’m not useful like you and Armin. I want to meet a human and see if I can make peace! I want to help!” I started crying. I stood up and started to head to the door.

“Eren!” She scrambled to her feet. I ran away from her, taking off into the air. I wasn’t as fast as her, but I could fly higher than her. She couldn’t go as high because the air was thinner up higher and her muscles would quickly reach their limit. I could heal as I flew, so I had more freedom. It was a risky thing to do, since if I reached my healing limit while so high up, I could drop right out of the sky. She didn’t pursue though, allowing me to run away like I always did.

I headed straight for the humans’ lands. I would show them all how useful I could be! I would make friends with a human and in doing so, unlock the doorway to peace!

As I flew, the landscape gradually changed. The forest faded into fields, then the fields faded into castles. The humans lived in these big rocky structures on the ground. They were so intimidating and cold looking. I always wondered if they kept the tree parts inside the rocks or what?

I thought a lot about humans. I knew only about the hunters, and that was stories of warning from the elders. The hunters traveled on horses and shot down any nymph they saw. They would track us down to where we fell and drag us back to their castle. There they would cut our wings off and sell them and keep us. The elders said we would be caged up in those dark stone houses and that once the hunters cut our wings off, they used us as servants and made us do awful things. I thought that wasn’t true though.

I saw the humans as little dots on the ground. They looked harmless enough. There hadn’t been a nymph taken by hunters in over a decade now. Maybe they wanted peace. I was determined to find out. The sun set very soon, so I knew I had to move fast.

I flew lower to the human’s lands, knowing they could see me now. I saw the dots grow in size as I got closer, and now could make them out as people. They stopped and pointed at me. A few screamed. One climbed up and rang a bell. I wondered if that was a welcoming bell or if it meant something else. I flew past the castles and turned back, circling lower. Now I saw a group of humans in green capes with wings on the back riding toward me on horseback. Those wings on the back of their cape! They must be here to welcome me.

I flew toward them, smiling. I got closer and closer to the leader. I was so excited! I was preparing to land when I felt pain shock through my body. My right wing was on fire, and my instincts kicked in. I flew up higher, trying to head up. Blood trickled from the wound in my wing. I had been shot! Why would the shoot me? Could it be these were the hunters? They were on horseback!

I heard them shouting, and felt the bullets whizzing around me. I tucked my wings as far back as they would go awhile still being able to fly. My whole right side throbbed and my left side was numb. I was going down soon! I looked for a safe place and decided the forest on the outskirts of the human land would have to do. I made a mad dash for it, getting shot twice more in the process. I tumbled into the treetops, crying out in pain as my wings were twisted and snapped on the branches.

 _If only Mikasa had been around…_ I thought as I laid on the ground with my crumpled wings twitching and leaking blood in a pool around me… _she could have made a vine net to catch me._

My eyes fluttered close.

Levi POV

“Find him!” Erwin yelled at us.

“Yes, Commander!” We shouted back. We had all been shocked when we heard the alarm bell ring. We were even more shocked when we saw him. Stupid brat flew right toward us. I wondered what the hell he was thinking…

We spread out to comb the forest where he went down. I could hear us crashing through the dark forest rolled my eyes. He would be able to hear us if we kept crashing through the forest like this! Erwin probably didn’t care. He was worried about speed, not stealth. He wanted a pair of wings on his mantle. He had gone a little nymph crazy lately, probably because he would soon be too old for the hunt and he wanted a pair of wings to match the pair his father had gotten, and his father before him, and his father before him.. blah blah blah. I wondered why I had even dated him sometimes.

_Well… he was good in bed._

I kept searching, making sure to stay silent and touch all the trees I could reach. Odds are he bleed on a tree on the way down. Find his blood, find him. I wondered if the others were doing this. Probably not… They were from here, they didn’t ever have to do this in life and death situations. I wasn’t from here, I was from a place dubbed the underground, even though it was on the surface. It was called that because it was like hell. I needed all the stealth skills I could develop there, and I had developed many.

I patted down all the trees until I found a wet one. I brought my wet hand to my mouth and licked it. Blood. Bingo. I listened for movement, but all I could here was those idiots crashing around far away. They were even moving in the wrong direction. I rolled my eyes, crouching down to the ground. I took out my dagger, keeping my grip on it tight. With my other hand I felt along the forest floor until I found the edge of a pool of something wet. I licked my hand again. Blood.

I smiled in the dark. Here he was. I kneeled in the pool of blood and reached out in the darkness. It didn’t take long before I felt feathers. I froze, one hand on the twisted bone of his wing. Nothing. He was unconscious then. I felt along his crumpled wings, feeling the bones in the, twisted out in sick angles. I finally found his skin. It was so cold and clammy. It was doubtful he’d live with him in this state.

I put away my dagger and rolled my arms underneath him, I flipped him onto my back and carried him out of the forest. I guess I had to bring him to Erwin now. He would chain him up and wait until his wings had healed before slicing them off.

I laid him down in the moonlight at the edge of the forest. I looked over him. He was just a kid, for fuck’s sakes. I wondered if he even knew what he was doing when he flew into our space. He had smooth, dark skin, with his hair just a few shades darker brown. He looked so peaceful, especially compared to the look of terror that had come over his face when Erwin had first shot him. I stroked his wings, feeling the dampness from the blood. They were the same dark brown as his hair, and fluffy looking. I figured they felt fluffy, too, when they weren’t twisted like a pretzel and matted with blood.

I hummed to myself.

“Anything down there, Levi?” I heard Erwin call out from far away. He was standing at the edge of the forest far down to the left. I doubted he could see me. I opened my mouth to call out that yes, I had found something.

“Erwin!” I called. I stopped. Would he be awake when Erwin slid the knife through his wings? Would he struggle, screaming in pain?

“Levi!” I heard movement his way and knew he was coming over here.

“There’s nothing down here!” I screamed. I turned away from the nymph and ran toward Erwin. I had to stop him before he hurt the kid. Erwin met me with a lantern in the middle.

“I found signs that he moved left and fast, too.” I lied to him. His eyes lit up.

“Where the men are now?”

“Yes. The tracks where deep, so he’s moving fast that way.” Erwin’s eyes flicked down to my hands and knees and I cursed that they were stained with blood.

“Is that his blood?” Erwin’s eye narrowed.

“No. I found a dead animal. I thought it was him when I found the blood, but it was just a carcass.” He hummed. I needed to lie better.

“I think it was some sort of cattle.” He peered behind me into the darkness. I needed to lie even better.

“I strongly suggest that you go ask Mike if any of his cattle had gone missing. We can’t afford to lose any more cattle.” Erwin nodded.

“You’re absolutely right, Levi. I will ask Mike as soon as we catch it.” I shuddered inwardly. Erwin called that beautiful boy _it._ He smiled at me.

“Want to help us look over here?”

“I’m going to track his path from inside the forest. I’ll follow his footsteps exactly.”

“You’re our best tracker Levi, we’re depending on you.”  With that, he left me in the dark. I ran back over to him. I stroked his face gently in the moonlight.

“Liar.” I froze. That wasn’t any who I knew.

I looked at his lips, seeing them parted with a little blood trickling out of the corner.

“You lied for me.” His lips moved again. I jerked my hands back. He was alive!

“There’s no way you could have survived those shots and the crash landing!” I said.

“I’m a healing nymph.” He coughed up more blood. I stared at him. His eyes fluttered open and I gasped.

Big, beautiful emeralds were sparkling at me… there had to be at least a thousand shades of green in him large eyes. It took my breath. He smiled at me with blood all over his teeth.

I thought about Erwin. I thought about this nymph here in front of me. He was still too hurt to fly. I could still bring him to Erwin. I looked at his eye again… such innocent, trusting eyes… He had smiled at me even though I was part of the group that shot him…

What was I to do?

 


	2. Good Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda pushing the T/M boundary here

Eren POV

“How do I help you?” He asked me. He hovered over me, his fierce gray eyes looking down over my injured wings.

“Take me somewhere safe,” I whispered. I reached a shaking, blood covered hand up and grabbing his shoulder.

“I’ll have to carry you.” He slid his arms underneath my body and I cried gently in pain. “I’m sorry for the pain, but you have to be quiet. Erwin and the others still want your wings.”

“Okay.” I nestled my head under his chin as he picked me up bridal style. His hands were under my wings on my bare back so as not to crumple them further. He picked me up and started walking. I felt a rush of pain with every step he took but I bit back my cries. I let my tears fall freely, though, as they made no sound.

I didn’t look where he was taking me, I didn’t care. I couldn’t stop him from taking me to the people who wanted to hurt me, so I just had to trust him. He took me quickly through the forest, my wings sometimes getting snagged on branches. I didn’t complain, though, he was saving my life. I kept my face pressed to his neck and my hands clamped on the back of his shoulders, where his wings would begin if he was my kind. The skin of his neck was wet and salty with my tears and goosebumps were raised on it in the cool night air. His breath was hot on my head as he ran and I tried to focus on that and his steady heartbeat to distract myself from the pain.

I could feel my healing nymph powers trying to read him. Even when my body was in such terrible condition, I still felt my power reaching into this man and trying to find what was wrong with him. I found a lot of emotional distress and something wrong with his right leg. There were minor scrapes and bruises all over this man’s body. I tried to pull my power’s probing fingers out of him and focused on healing my own injuries.

“Here.” He said to me, suddenly slowing down. “This is the river I used to hide at when I was in more shady dealings.”

I looked up from his clammy skin. We were in a small clearing next to a river. He laid me down on the bank and brought out a flask from the breast pocket of his coat with the wings on it and put it to my lips. I opened and let him pour some into my mouth. The liquid was hot and sour and stinging all over my mouth. I leaned over away from him and spit it out in a fine spray. I coughed and pain shot up my spine.

“Can’t handle booze, brat?” He said. “Okay. Wait.” He left me there alone for a second while he went to the river. He poured the poison water out into the river and dipped his flask into the water to get some real water. He brought it back over to me and I took a moment to look over him.

He was very short, especially compared to the other men who had shot me down. He had black hair that was sticking to his forehead with sweat. His nose was curved up a little bit at the end and I wanted to put my finger on it. His lips were thin and pressed together unhappily. He had a sharp jawline and was clean shaven. His uniform was tan and green and white, with wings all over it. I didn’t spend too long looking at all that, though, because his eyes were so fascinating. They reminded me of the moon, intense and gray.

He sat down next to me and put the flask back to my lips. This time the water was cool and familiar.

“Were you trying to kill me with that poison?” I asked him seriously. Why did he not finish the job? He looked at me with his brow knitted together.

“It won’t work. I’m a healing nymph. Healing is what I do. You’re going to have to try hard than that to kill me.” I glanced down at his thigh, where there were a couple daggers tied there with some leather belts.

“I’m wasn’t trying to kill you. I was trying to give you some alcohol to take the edge off your pain.” He looked down at my wings.

“That poison heals people?” I asked. His lips twitched.

“No. But some people think it does.”

I didn’t know what he meant, so I ignored that comment.

“What’s your name?”

“Levi.” He said, watching as my feathers began to straighten.

“I’m Eren.” I could feel the tingling of healing moving up my wings and I knew my crooked feathers were being healed first.

“Your wings are healing.” He whispered.

“I already told you, I’m a healing nymph.” I said.

“How can I help?”

“Roll me onto my back and wash the blood off the wounds from where I was shot.”  

He gently rolled me onto my back. I winced at all the movement it took. I stretched out my shaking wings to their full size, giving him access to the wound. I laid my head on my folded arms and tried to relax. I knew what was about to happen would be painful. I felt him reach out and touch the sensitive area around the wounds. I couldn’t help but whine and wince my wings away a bit. He pulled his hands back and I waited to feel them return. When they didn’t, I encouraged him.

“Go ahead.”

“I don’t want to hurt your wings…” he drifted off. I didn’t wince this time, and gritted my teeth against the pain of him moving the broken feathers out of the way of the wound. I heard him unscrew the flask once again and closed my eyes tight. I knew the pain would be intense, so I focused my healing powers on that spot. He poured the icy water onto my first bullet wound and I muffled my scream with my arm.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled. “I’m so sorry.”  

I whined at the pain until he had exhausted the flask’s supply.

“I’ll go get more.” He whispered, his voice thick.

“No!” I reached my hand out and clawed at his pants leg. He stilled my hand and held it in his own, but my arm still shook violently.

“I’m going to heal the wound.” I whispered.

“Okay.” I could barely hear his voice.

“I need you to not touch my skin. Just stay.” I said. My power was trying to reach into him due to our skin to skin connection. He let me go and waited.

I took deep breaths, focusing all my energy on healing that one spot he had cleaned. My feathers trembled and I broke out in a cold sweat. I started healing the wound and heard Levi gasp. The wound got tighter and tighter until it stopped healing. There was something in it. I could heal over top of what was lodged in the wound, but that could make problems for me later.

“There’s something in the wound. Something I can’t heal around!” I gasped out.

“You need me to, er, pull it out?” He asked.

“Yes.” I said. “Hurry, please.”

He leaned over my wing and put his face close to the wound. I could feel his breath on my wound and my wings trembled in pain.

“It’s Erwin’s bullet.” He said quietly. “I could use my fingers, but it’s pretty deep. I’m going to have to cut it out.”

I heard him unsheathe one of the daggers he kept on his thighs. I whimpered as I felt him put the tip of the dagger on my wings. I felt my hot blood flood onto my shaking wings. The pain was hot and intense and I couldn’t help but scream. He put his hand over my mouth and continued what he was doing. I felt something pop out of me and the pain lessened. He sat back away from me and I panted hard.

“Now try to heal.” He encouraged. I shook. I tried to heal again and felt the newest cuts that Levi had made heal but made no progress on the bullet wound. I tried to heal it and felt my head start pound.

“I can’t” I cried.

“Yes, you can!” Levi leaned down to my head and said this into my ear. “Remember what you said to me? You are a healing nymph. Healing is what you do.”

I looked up at him. His image was blurred by the tears in my eyes.

“Eren, we don’t have time. You need to heal now.” He paused. “Think about your family.”

I looked away from his bright moon eyes and thought about Mikasa and Armin. Mikasa’s loving eyes and Armin’s kind face filled my eyes. I whined and tried again.

“There you go. I see the wound closing, keep it up.” Levi said.

Healing the injury hurt almost as much as getting the injury did.

“That’s one.” He breathed. I cried against my arm.

By the time Levi heard someone crashing through the forest looking for him, I had only about half of my injuries healed.

“You have to do the rest on your own.” He said and then disappeared into the woods. I watched his retreating back through my puffy eyes and wondered if I would ever see him again.

Levi POV

“I’m very disappointed we didn’t get him.” Erwin said coldly to the team. He marched up and down our ranks. We were lined up in the hallway of the Survey Corps castle waiting for him to dismiss us to our rooms so that we could rest.

“We will not make any more mistakes.” Erwin stopped in front of me. “We will catch him. Dismissed.”

“Yes, Commander!” We called. The others shuffled away to their rooms, but I remained standing at attention before him. I knew he would want me in private.

“Come to my room tonight, Levi.” He said, then walked away briskly. I relaxed. I hoped he just wanted me for sex and not to talk about Eren.

I walked to the shower in my room first. The others may have no problem sleeping covered in mud and filth, but I did. I knew that Erwin was probably showering, too. He knew I wouldn’t fuck him if he wasn’t clean. I guessed that if he wanted me there to talk about Eren, he would be still dirty when I came in. If he was clean, he would keep me in his bed tonight.

I showered quickly and dressed in my pajama pants. I didn’t bother to put on a shirt. He had seen me naked plenty of times, and there was a fifty/ fifty shot that he would see me naked again tonight. It didn’t matter to me. I knocked on the door.

“Come in, Levi.”

I glanced around his room. It was messy and I cringed. How did we ever date? We were so much better as fuck buddies. I looked at him and saw he just in his towel. So he had showered for me, after all. I guess we would be fucking tonight then.

I walked over to him and got on my knees in front of him. I started to tug the towel off to get to his cock, when he spoke.

“I want to talk about the nymph first, Levi.” He said.

I froze. “Okay.” I tried to sound normal. He walked around me and sat on the bed. I followed him and sat next to him.

“Did you see him?”

“No.” I answered.

“Did you find his blood?”

“No.”

“Would you tell me if you found that thing in the woods? You wouldn’t hide information from me.”

“Yes, Erwin.” I tried to distract him by leaning over for a kiss. He kissed me back for a moment, then threw his towel over the side of the bed.

“You are loyal to me?” He asked, pushing me down and pulling my pants off.

“Yes.” I said.

“You’re not hiding anything from me?” He asked.

“No, Erwin. I am not hiding anything from you.”

He got on top of me and kissed me roughly. My mind drifted back to the nymph in the forest. His wings were so beautiful. It disgusted me that the man who wanted to kill Eren would soon be inside of me.

“What’s wrong, Levi?” He asked, feeling my tension.

“Just… do you have to kill the nymph?”

“I need his wings, Levi. Yes, he dies.” Erwin pinned my wrists down like usual, but instead of trying to get sexual, he stared into my eyes.

“You’re not protecting him, are you?”

“You paranoid, old man? I’m not protecting Eren,” I said. His eyes widened and then I realized my mistake.

“Eren, is it?” He gripped my wrist harder and his erection on my thigh reminded me of what a vulnerable position I was in.

“It’s an underground term. Air-in. It means idiot. You know, like there’s nothing but ‘air-in’ his head.” I didn’t let my panic show to Erwin.

“Is that so?” He purred, leaning down to my ear and licking my neck. “I’ve never heard of that before.”

“You’re not from the underground, rich boy.” I kissed him to distract him and then nipped at a few key places on his neck that I knew would get him fired up.

“Good boy,” He said, parting my legs wider.


	3. Teacher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> introducing Ymir and erwin and levi's relationship continues to deteriorate  
> Also, we are now at an M rating because lets be honest, im gonna get to the nasty sometime soon.

Levi POV

I wanted to see Eren again. I wanted to know that he was okay. I knew I was going against Erwin and the rest of the Scouting Legion Hunters, which was new for me. I didn’t dwell on the fact that I was turning my back on my fellow hunters for long, though. Otherwise, I would feel guilty. I did truly care for my fellow Hunters, and I thought of them dearly as comrades. They were innocent in Erwin’s war on the nymphs; they still believed that the nymphs were a threat to us, and as such, it was just to hunt them. It was different for me, though. Due to my relationship with Erwin, I had become disillusioned to this hunt. This wasn’t about protecting the human race at all: it was about Erwin desire to live up to his family name and hang a pair of wings on his wall.

I lay in Erwin’s bed listening to the sound of him getting dressed and wondered how I got here. I was in this awful man’s bed after fucking him last night, daydreaming about a nymph brat, and wondering how I could weasel my way into seeing Eren again. I had been a lot of shitty situations underground, but this one was the shittiest situation I had been in here, in the rich lands.

 I sighed, thinking about Eren and Erwin and debating the two paths that were stretched in front of me. I could be loyal to Erwin, track down Eren and bring him in. I could help Erwin chain him up and wait while Hanje, the nymph scientist and researcher, healed him. (Or would he heal himself? Even though he was healing nymph, he would know that as soon as he was healed, Erwin would kill him, so he would probably refuse.) I could help hold him down while Erwin grabbed the base of his fluffy, chocolate wings and sawed right through the delicate bones. I could ignore his screams and his hot blood that would spill everywhere.

Erwin would certainly be so delighted to have the wings of the nymph he murdered in cold blood up on his mantle. It disgusted me to think of all the claps on the back and cheers of “Good job!” and “Way to get ‘em!” he would receive. He would be so proud of himself, and he would celebrate with my body, I was sure of that. I wondered if I could block out what he had done while he fucked me. Would I be able to take it like I always had after seeing him kill Eren? He would coo to me how I was a good boy and how I had helped him find Eren and kill him. He would tell me he was so proud of me and thank me for helping him kill Eren while touching me and kissing me and playing with me.

On the other hand, there was Eren. The gentle little brat with the big green eyes and the fluffy wings. He was the opposite of Erwin with his huge stature, pale skin, blond hair, and icy blue eyes. He couldn’t help it that he was born with wings, why should he be killed for them? I thought they were a positive thing. I would be lying if I said I didn’t think they were gorgeous. I could walk that path, and chose him over Erwin. I could turn my back on my whole life and follow Eren. If I chose that, what would it lead to? It wasn’t like I could join him in his nymph band.

I just couldn’t stand the thought of killing him, though. He was so unique and beautiful. The way he had looked up at me and told me that I’d “have to try harder than that” to kill him gave me a start. There was fire in this little brat, and I wanted to see more of it. I wanted to know his gentle side, too. I wanted to touch his soft wings and stroke his sweet skin. I wasn’t going to lie to myself. I was sexually attracted to the nymph brat Eren.

I didn’t think anything would come of it. I didn’t know if he would ever even consider mating with a human. Hell, I didn’t even know if he was gay. For all I knew he had a nymph girlfriend. I didn’t think he had a nymph family, (he looked a little too young for that), but who knows, maybe he did. The only thing I really knew what that his name was Eren, he was a nymph, and I was curious about him.

I slid my eyes over to the Commander getting dressed. He was a handsome man, but he wasn’t really my type. It was true that we had dated before, and that we were currently fucking, but I still maintained that he wasn’t my type. I like smaller, gentler men. Like that nymph. I wanted to pin him down and dominate him and stroke his pretty wings afterward. I was getting more and more tired of my relationship with Erwin by the day, but I just didn’t know how to go about breaking it off permanently without suffering some sort of consequence from the commander. I didn’t think he would punish me, per say, but he definitely would question my loyalty and examine my every move very closely. If I wanted to keep that nymph safe, and still see him, I couldn’t have that happen.

Erwin was just tightening his bolo tie when he noticed me staring.

“We have to search the forest again today.” He said, looking down at me still naked in his bed. I sat up, ignoring the pain that came with the movement.

“If that’s what you order, Commander.” I said, not looking away from his eyes. His jaw tightened.

“My orders are to bring it back.” He said coldly. He narrowed his eyes at me. “You’ll do that for me, right, Levi?”

“Yes, Commander.” I said smoothly. I knew what he wanted to hear, and I would say it. I slipped off of the bed and grabbed my discarded pants.

“I want its wings…” Erwin said, more speaking to himself than to me, while I was pulling on my pants.

“And you shall have them.” I said to him, walking over to him and stroking his chest. I didn’t look in his eyes.

“You will bring it to me?” He asked once more.

“Yes, Commander.” I said, and I felt his hands slip into my hair to tilt my head up for a kiss. I allowed him to kiss me, not really feeling any love or lust or anything at all, really, as I had done so many times before. It was a dangerous game I was playing.

I pulled back.

“I should get ready.” I said, bushing out of the room.

I walked quickly back to my room, thinking about how the hell I was going to handle this situation. If Eren were still where I had left him, and there was a good possibility that he was considering his injuries, then I needed to warn him and, if necessary, help move him. I couldn’t head straight there, though, because I was sure Erwin would be watching me like a hawk. I would have to “hunt” him in the forest and move the team away from him. I was quicker and moved silently on my feet. I was sure once they were sufficiently lost in the woods that I could sneak out and find Eren.

I just had to make sure that he was okay.

I took my place outside of my room, standing at attention in the line-up. It was the usual morning routine. Erwin soon moved up and down us, giving us our morning orders.

“We will depart immediately after breakfast for the woods where it was last seen. We will hunt it until we find it. We can _not_ let it get away. This is the first time we have seen a nymph in a decade. Who knows when we will have another one fly in?” He paused. “Understood?”

“Yes, Commander.” We said in unison, as we always did.

“Dismissed for breakfast.”

“Yes, Commander.” We said again. We all shuffled into the dining hall and grabbed our food. It was a decent breakfast of bacon and eggs with a berry muffin, and everyone else was eating theirs quickly and complimenting the food. One of the young hunters, Sasha, moaned loudly when she started chewing on the bacon.

I slipped a handkerchief out from my pocket and wrapped up my muffin. I tucked in into my folded up cape beside me and ate the rest of my breakfast. I left before anyone else, hurriedly throwing my dishes into the stack to be washed and then rushing to my horse. I petted her silky black hair gently for a few moments, then slipped the muffin into the saddle bag. I put on my cloak as I saw the rest of the hunters begin to file out and mount their horses.

Soon, Erwin had gathered everyone outside and we were ready to leave.

“Stay beside me.” He said to me. I nodded.

“Onward!” He called, and we departed.

The look in Erwin’s eyes was scary when he was hunting. He would sacrifice anything to get at his target, and I knew it. He smiled creepily while we rode to the forest, occasionally glancing back at me. I thought about Eren the whole ride there. I thought about what he would look like when I saw him again, if he was even still there. Would he be all healed up? I sure hoped so; I wanted to see what he looked like when he wasn’t covered in blood. I hoped he would like the muffin I brought him. I knew he needed food. I wished I could bring him more.

In the daylight, it was easy to see the crashed trees. I bit my tongue against a growl. I would have a hell of a time convincing Erwin that the nymph was not, in fact, exactly where he was. I started to think of things to say while Erwin dismounted and drew his sword from its place at his hip.

Everyone followed his lead and dismounted. I took the opportunity and transferred the muffin into my coat pocket. I was having a hell of a time trying not to squish it. It would be worth it, though, to make sure he ate, even if it was just a muffin.

“Ymir.” Erwin said as we gathered around him.

“Yes, Commander?” She stepped forward.

“Follow Levi. Stay right on his heels.” Erwin said, narrowing his eyes at me.

“Yes, Commander.” She replied, walking over to me.

I screamed internally. Ymir was the third hunter, and she was fast. We were arranged by our abilities. I was first hunter, with Mike as second and Ymir as third. I knew Erwin was doing this so that someone would watch me. He didn’t send Mike to baby sit me because Mike always worked with Erwin.

“Find him!” Erwin barked. We spread out in groups of two and three and charged into the forest. Ymir was hot on my tail as we sped through the forest. I increased my speed and headed toward where I heard other crashing around. Sasha and Connie ran through some bushes and into our path. They apologized and ran off in the opposite direction, away from Eren. I smiled. Good.

I traveled to where I heard others coming closer to where Eren was and met with Petra and Olou.

“You’re going the wrong way. He’s that way.” I pointed away from Eren.

“Oh! Thanks for telling us!” Petra saluted with the hand that wasn’t holding her dagger and they went on their way.

“So you know where he is?” Ymir said from behind me.

“I know the general direction.” I said coldly. I looked over my shoulder at her and found her scowling. She opened her mouth to say something more and I shot her a death glare. She closed it.

I started off in the direction of the group that was next closest to Eren. I was in luck, it was Erd and Gunter and Gunter looked hurt.

“He tripped.” Erd explained. Gunter groaned in pain and clutched at a pant leg covered in blood. Ymir scoffed behind me.

“Of fucking course he did.” She sneered.

“Take him out of the woods to Hanje.” I said. Hanje was our field medic. They traveled with us and waited on the edge of the forest to assist with injuries and help with the nymph when we brought him in. They were the most brilliant nymph scientist around, so Erwin recruited them. They could be a hunter if they wanted to be, (They were certainly skilled enough with a weapon), but they chose to focus on science instead.

“Yes, sir!” Erd said, rolling Gunter onto his back.

I watched them go and was very pleased. I didn’t like that one of my comrades was hurt, but I did like that two of the people hunting Eren would be out of commission.

I paused and listened for the next group.

“Are you protecting the nymph?” Ymir asked, placing a freckled hand on my shoulder. I jerked out of her touch.

“Don’t touch me.” I warned. “No, I’m not protecting him.”

“You said earlier you knew where he was. Why are you chasing down our men?” She questioned. I could see the hardness in her dark eyes even in the low light that filtered down from the trees.

“Don’t question me. Who’s first and who’s third here?” I glared up at her, hating how much taller she was than me.

“Why don’t we go to where he is instead of chasing down the others? You’re a master hunter, Levi, it’s obvious you didn’t just ‘run into’ the others; you’re seeking them out. Why?”

I glared at her, not saying a word. She threw her hands up.

“Look, man, I don’t give a fuck if you’re protecting the nymph. I just don’t like running around in the woods not knowing what’s going on.”

“You don’t give a fuck if I protect the nymph or not?” I asked. Ymir had always been the most like me of the group. She worked for herself more than for anyone else, and it reminded me of myself when I was younger in the underground. I made sure to watch her closely. That line of behavior could end up helping her realize her dreams or it could be her downfall like so many in the underground.

“Nope. I don’t care about the fucking nymph. I honestly don’t. I don’t see what the big deal is. He’s just a fucker with wings. That’s all nymphs are. Big fucking deal.” She said, crossing her arms.

I thought about how much she was like younger me and asked myself what I would do to younger me to manipulate the situation to my benefit and protect Eren.

“What do you want?” I asked. Ymir cocked an eyebrow.

“What?”

“I’m protecting the nymph. What do you want in return for your silence?” I asked.

“How do you know I’ll keep quiet?” She asked.

“Because you work only for yourself. You’re not loyal to the country or to Erwin; you are loyal to your own self, and as a self-serving bitch, your silence can be bought.” I stared at her hard. She threw her head back and laughed, an ugly, barking noise.

“I like you.” She said.

“I don’t care if you like me or not. What do you want?” I asked again. “Money?”

“You think I’m that simple?” She eyed me. “You’re first hunter.”

“Yeah?” I said, irritated.

“I’m third hunter.”

“Is there a fucking point in the shit you’re spewing?”

“I want you to teach me to become a better hunter.” She looked at me with a mischievous smile. My face twisted up in confusion.

“You are already third, why would you want lessons? You want to be, what, second?” I asked. She laughed, then it hit me.

“You want to be first hunter.” I hissed.

“Yup. You, first hunter, are going to train me on how to beat you.”

“No,” I growled. I was number one because I was the best. All of the blood and sweat and dirt and shit I had to wade through underground gave me the skills to be first hunter and I was not so ready to give it up. The title of first hunter was the only positive thing that I had from my time underground.

“That is the price of my silence.” She said, smirking. I glared at her, anger rising in me. I thought about telling her to fuck off, challenging her. The muffin weighed heavy in my pocket like a ton of bricks. I saw Eren crumpled wings in my mind and felt the guilt rise up.

“Fine. You and I will train once a week for two years. If you can’t beat me by then, you’re hopeless.”

“Every day and indefinitely.”

“Every day? Never gonna happen. Twice a week until you beat me.”

“Four times a week indefinitely.” We were leaning closer to one another, almost waiting for the other to strike.

“Three times a week until you beat me. Final offer.” I said. She raised her eyebrows.

“Alright. How does weekends and Wednesday sound?” She said.

“Whatever.”

“Alright. You’re secret is safe with Ymir, the self-serving, soon to be first hunter, bitch.” She said. She held her palm in front of her face ad hacked up a wad of spit. I watched wide eyed in terror as she spit in her palm and offered it to me.

“Fucking disgusting!” I sneered at her.

“Shake, or its not officially a deal.”

“I am not touching that revolting slime covered bitch paw.” I backed away from the offending hand.

“ _Shake_.” She commanded. I bit down a joke about her being a bitch and saying dog commands.

“Not that hand.” I said, plucking a pair of black leather gloves out of my jacket pocket. I felt the squished muffin while I was in there and was reminded of Eren. I slipped on the gloves and she rolled her eyes.

“And I’m the bitch.” She said, holding out her other hand. I shook it and quickly pulled back.

“So where is he?” She said. “Are we going to see him?”

“ _I’m_ going to see him. You will fuck off and go do whatever it is bitches do the forest.”

“No way. I wanna see him.” She said.

I opened my mouth to bite an insult at her when she cut me off.

“I should at least get to see him once.”

“Fine.” I said. “He’s this way, keep up.”

“I will!” She said, and we were off. I didn’t like taking her to see Eren, but I figured that if she saw him, she would feel a stronger need to keep it secret.

We ran hard, and I tested her agility. I was short and could run under the tree branches no problem. Her tall form was a hindrance to her in these woods where the branches stuck out right near her head. I snickered whenever she would fall behind because she had to work around a tree awkwardly.

I slowed down as we approached the clearing. Ymir caught up to me and I stopped. She stopped next to me.

“He’s in that clearing?”

“The last time I saw him, yeah.” I looked at her pointedly. “Be slow, Ymir. First lesson: be cautious when approaching anything and everything.”

She nodded. “Right, teacher.”

I rolled my eyes and flipped her off.

She snickered. I walked out to the back of the river first, slow and looking around. Ymir followed me.

“He’s by this river?” She asked.

“He was. This is where I brought him to heal.”

“I didn’t even know this river was here.” She mused, crouching down and washing her hands and face in the water. I was so happy she washed that fucking slime off

“Not a lot of people do. It’s in kind of a hard to get to area. The hills all around here disguise that there is anything over here, so no one comes to look.”

“How did you know it was here?” She asked, standing back up.

“I stayed here when I was on the run from the Military Police a lot.” I explained.

“Oh! That sounds like a fucking story.” She leaned forward, putting her hands on her hips and smiling.

“Enlighten me, teacher. What the fuck did you do to get chased by the Military Police?” She said rudely.

“We’ll talk about that shit later. Right now, we need to find Eren.” I looked all around but couldn’t find him.

“Eren is his name?” She asked, looking with me.

“Yes. Eren. He’s like a medical nymph.”

“A medical nymph?” She asked me, stopping her search to look at me.

“A healing nymph.” A voice said and Ymir immediately drew her sword. I looked toward the voice and saw nothing. Could he be blended into the environment? Is that a nymph power?

“It’s Eren.” I said to her. “Put that shit away.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I’ll put my sword up when he comes out of hiding.”

She marched toward where the voice came from. “Show yourself!”

“I’m not hiding! I’m eating!” He called, and then I pin pointed his voice. I ran over to the base of the apple tree and looked up. He was sitting on a branch, lazily munching on an apple.

“Ymir, put your sword away.” I called again.

She moved underneath the tree and looked up, gasping when she saw Eren sitting there, swinging his legs, and smiling at her. She looked over his shirtless form, taking in his wings, and then slid her sword back into its sheath.

“Ymir, this is Eren. He’s a healing nymph. Eren, this is Ymir. She’s a bitch.” I said.

His eyes widened.

“You look like Marco.” He said.

“Who?” She grumbled, still looking at his wings.

“Marco. He’s an earth nymph in my band. He has dark hair and freckles, too. He’s really sweet, although I feel bad for him because Jean is, like, in love with him. It’s awful. I wouldn’t wish Jean on anyone in the whole wide world.” Eren fluttered his wings gently.

“Who’s Jean?” Ymir asked.

Eren didn’t answer. Instead he said, “Watch out guys, coming down!”

Ymir and I barely had time to move out of the way before Eren had jumped down and landed gracefully in front of us. He walked past us out toward the river and sat on the bank.

“What was it you asked me again? Who’s Jean? Well, Jean is an awful person and I hope you never have the displeasure of meeting him and having to look at his horse face. He’s a metal nymph, and we fight all the time about who’s more useful. I’m not useful, but he’s _really_ not useful.” Eren snorted.

The whole time Eren rambled on about Jean and how they “fought all the time” and it was always “Jean’s fault” because “Jean had something to prove”, Ymir was edging closer and closer to Eren.

“Can he fucking help you, Ymir?” I hissed at her. She and Eren both froze. Eren looked over his shoulder and saw Ymir had moved very close to him.

“I wanna touch his wings.” She said reaching a hand out. I was on her in a flash, grabbing her wrist. She narrowed her eyes at me.

“I. Wanna. Touch. His. Wings.” She growled.

“Um, please don’t.” Eren said in a little voice, standing up and moving away from us. “Touching wings is a very special thing. It happens only between mates. We aren’t mates and so if you would please refrain from touching my wings, I would very much appreciate it.”

Ymir stared at him. He stared back with his big, scared green eyes.

Ymir relaxed, and I let go of her wrist. “No need for the long winded speech, kid. I’ll play nice.” She shot me a look.

“Don’t hurt him.” I growled at her. “You do that, you are no better than Erwin.”

“Oh? But you like Erwin, don’t you? Or you just like his cock?” She spat. Eren looked at her in shock.

“Go fuck off.” I said coldly. We held each other’s gaze for a moment. I could see her trying to decide whether to challenge me or not.

“Alright. I’ll go fuck off.” She gave me a significant look. “Teacher.”

She slipped away into the forest and I barely heard her move. She was good.

I turned back to Eren.

“I brought you something.” I said. His eyes lit up. Something twisted in my stomach when I looked at them.

“Really?”

“Yes.” I handed him the muffin and he slowly unraveled it, crumbs going everywhere. He sniffed at it.

“Berries? And some other ingredients.”

“For fuck’s sakes, brat. It’s a muffin, not a weapon. Eat it.” I sat down on the back again, and Eren followed my lead, sitting across from me. He broke off some of the muffin and brought it to his mouth. His little pink tongue darted out and licked the piece tentatively. He smiled.

“It’s sweet.” He commented before taking the bite.

“Well, yeah, it’s a muffin.”

“Is this what humans eat?” He said, breaking off another piece.

“Humans eat lots of things.” I looked up and down his wings, seeing how they had healed. “How are your wings?”

“They are getting better. I healed the bullet wounds and the cuts, but they are still too sore to fly. I tried to get back home earlier and the pain made me fall.” He winced at the memory.

“I’m glad you are getting better. You will be home in no time, Eren.” I said gently to him. I looked over his shirtless body and filed the details away in my mind for later. I looked over abs, licking my lips unconsciously at the sight of the brown hair running down into his pants. I ran my eyes up his toned shoulders and gently sloping neck and strong jaw and – _for fuck’s sake._

“ _Brat._ You have crumbs all over your face.” I reached out my hand and swept it over his face. His cheeks were soft and warm and I saw the skin turn bright red under my touch. I looked back into his eyes and found them unfocused, like he was looking through me. His eyebrows folded up and his mouth pressed into a frown.

I moved my hand away.

“Sorry. I should have asked first.” I cursed myself for doing something that made him uncomfortable.

“I-it’s not that.” He looked away from me. “It’s just…I’m a healing nymph.”

“Okay?” I said when he didn’t continue. He opened and closed his mouth several times before he finally said something.

“I can feel other people.” He looked at me sideways. “I can feel when they are hurting and, um, you’re in pain right now.”

I frowned. The only thing that really hurt me was the left over soreness from Erwin’s roughness.

“Yeah. And?”

He blushed hard and covered his face with his hands.

“I can feel where they are hurting, too.” He whispered.

“Oh.” I said. So he knew my ass was hurting. Great. I scowled, cursing Erwin.

“I got pounded last night, okay? Let’s drop it. I don’t wanna fucking talk about it.” I said, looking away from him.

“O-Okay.” He turned slightly away from me and I saw his wings tremble slightly in my peripherals.

We sat in silence for a moment. I could see him sneaking peaks at me from the corner of my eye.

“What, brat?” I said a little too harshly to him.

“I just- I didn’t think you, um, were gay.” He said, pulling his legs up and hugging his knees.

“Is there something wrong with that?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“No!” He said, straightening a bit. “I’m gay!”

I raised my eyebrows at him. So my fantasy nymph was gay, too. I liked that.

“I, um, I- Look, I just, um,” He started stuttering all over himself, pushing his face into his knees.

“Spit it out, brat.”

“What’s it like having sex with a guy?” He asked in a rush, tensing.

“For fuck’s sake, Eren. How am I supposed to answer that?” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Fucking hell, brat.”

He whined and put his arms over his head. I saw his wings tremble and bright red move down what I could see of his neck.

“It’s okay. Look, brat. It really depends on a lot of things.” I said. He peeked at me from under his arms and I felt the intensity in his green eyes.

“Like?” He asked.

“Like who your partner is, whether you’re top or bottom, what prep you do… that shit.” I said, trying to remain as calm as possible, like I wasn’t sitting here with a beautiful gay fantasy boy asking about gay sex.

“What do you mean top and bottom? And what’s prep?” He asked innocently, picking his head up a little more, so it was resting on his folded arms on top of his knees.

“Fuck. You know nothing about this, do you?” I asked.

He frowned at me. “It’s not my fault I’ve never been taught! I’ve never had a boyfriend!”

“Hmmm? So what have you done?” I asked him. It was less so I could educate him about gay sex and more for my own pleasure. I loved watching him blush while looking at me with those embarrassed eyes.

“Nothing.” He bit his lips.

“Nothing? You’ve never even been kissed?” I asked him.

“I already said I’ve never had a boyfriend! There aren’t a lot of young, single, gay nymphs!” He sat up, glaring at me. I saw the fire in his eyes again, and I liked it.

“Would you like a kiss?” I asked him. His eyes widened and he jumped like he had been shocked.

“From you?”

“No, the fucking gay merman in the river.”

I rolled my eyes when he glanced over to the surface of the still water.

“Eren, fucking kiss me.”

His wings trembled a bit and I moved closer to him. I sat beside him and tilted my head up.

“I don’t know how.” He whispered. God, that blush and those eyes were going to kill me.

“Just don’t do anything awful like bite my tongue and you can’t mess it up.”

“Your tongue?” His eyes flicked down to my lips.

“I’m gonna put it in your mouth, Eren.” I reached up and stroked his hair. His eyes went cloudy for a second, then he came back to me.

“Your power?” I asked.

“Yeah. Now that I’ve got, um, everything, it’ll quit probing in you.”

 “So you can kiss me now?” I asked him. He studied me for a second before giving me a big, goofy grin.

He leaned in and was all over me. He pecked all over my face and then finally pecked my lips. I pulled him closer, preparing to take over the kiss when he licked my lips. It wasn’t a sweet, gentle ‘open up for me’ love lick, it was more like a slobbering dog. I pulled back, keeping one hand in his hair and wiping his spit off of my face with the other hand.

“Fucking hell, brat.” I growled. He looked at me innocently.

“What did I do?” He pouted. I grabbed his hair with the other hand and pulled him down roughly. He gasped and I slid my tongue into his mouth. I played with his tongue and he squeaked. He pushed his tongue out to play, too, and I felt his relax against me. After a moment, he put his hands on my waist and gripped my shirt. My fantasies flashed before my eyes and I wanted to continue. I couldn’t, though. I couldn’t just this beautiful nymph and leave him. I couldn’t lovingly be his first time and then drag him into all my bullshit. I pushed him away with a hand on his bare chest.

“Levi,” He whined.

“There. There’s your first kiss.” I stood up. He looked at me and then stood up himself.

“Can I have another?” He asked.

“No.”

“No?”

“No. Brat, I said you could have one kiss.”

“Oh.” He looked disappointed. I hated seeing that in his beautiful eyes and I had to look away.

“I need to go.” I said, moving back toward the forest.

“Will I see you again?” He said, moving on my heels.

“No. I came only to warn you today. Erwin is still hunting you. You need to stay out of sight. Just climb back in that tree and stay there until you can go home.” I said, not looking at him.

“Levi? Levi! I want to see you again.” He grabbed my wrist and I spun around. I jerked my wrist out of his grasp.

“Nymph, I am leaving now. I will not see you again. Go be with your own kind.” I spat.

I ran into the forest. He didn’t follow.

After running a while, I became aware of something running closer and closer behind me. I expected to see Eren, but it was Ymir.

I stopped and caught my breath while she caught up to me.

“So,” she said in between pants, “kinda disappointed there wasn’t actually a gay merman in the river.”

I froze. That was a joke I had said to Eren. My face curled into a snarl while she smirked.

“You were listening.”

“I was!” She laughed. “I was surprised that you didn’t catch me when I looped back around to eavesdrop. Guess you were too caught up in the love fest.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“You’re a real piece of fucking work, bitch.”

“Guilty as charged.” She flashed me a dazzling smile. I didn’t return it.

“Oh, lighten up. It’s not like I’m gonna go after him. I’m gay as hell.” She laughed.

“I have to admit. Eavesdropping on the first hunter is a hell of an accomplishment.” I praised her. She stopped laughing. She flushed a little bit. She shuffled from foot to foot and I saw how uncomfortable she was.

“Like I give a fuck.” She ran off.

I could see that she did, though. She wanted to be first hunter as validation. She just wanted to do a good job and have that recognized. She needed a strong role model, a teacher, and something to focus all her talent on. I sighed. Just like young me in the underground. I chased after her.

_I just hope she turns out better than me._


	4. Lesson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for gun violence and the death of two people and an unborn child

Levi POV

“The most important thing is to always keep your senses open. Your eyes, your ears, your nose, and your touch are your greatest advantages.” I crouched low in the forest greenery with Ymir beside me.

“Right. So where do you think he is?” She whispered to me. I saw her knuckles were white on her dagger.

“You already know where he is, Ymir.” I crouched lower and put my hands on the ground below me. Still wet.

“What the fuck do you mean? No, I don’t!” She looked all around. I sighed gently.

“You rely way too much on your eyes. You need to learn to use your other senses.” I said. “Close your eyes and tell me what you can sense.”

I already knew where the criminal we were hunting down was, but Ymir couldn’t see it yes. She was smart and she would make a good hunter if she could just learn to use her full potential…and that meant using all her senses, something she wasn’t used to.

“Fine.” She grumbled. I peeked at her and saw her close her eyes. She was quiet for a minute.

“The only things I’m getting are the sound of our breathing.”

“Ymir, what would Mike, second hunter, do?” I asked, trying to get her to smell the clue I had found as soon as I got close enough.

“He’d fucking sniff them out- _oh!_ ” She inhaled a couple times deeply. Then she twisted her face up in concentration. “Is that?”

She said quiet for a moment. She must be expecting me to just hand her the answer. Too bad.

“Smoke?” She asked quietly after a moment.

“Yes, it is. Good job. Now what does smoke mean?” I asked her.

“It means something is on fire.” She said I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

“Alright use your sense of touch and tell me what you find.” I prompted. She could do this. She could figure this out. I had faith in her.

“Touch what? All there is around us is ground and forest plants and all this god damn vegetation we have to hack through and fucking mud. God damn this mud. I fucking hate the rain.” She snarked. I waited for her to realize what she had said.

“Oh! It rained! Whatever was on fire is not on fire anymore!” She looked at me, waiting for my approval.

“There’s more to it than that. Come on, put what your nose tells you with what your touch tells you.”

“There was a fire, and then the rain put it out and that’s where the smoke came from?” She guessed. “Levi, that doesn’t sound possible. The rain would have-“

“The fire was built after the rain. Animals don’t make fire, so it has to be our criminal. It rained and he most likely got cold and wet and now he’s trying to make a fire. The ground is still wet, though, so it keeps going out. That tells us what?”

She hummed. “He’s desperate because he’s trying to make fire on wet ground?”

“Exactly. Which means he really needs the fire. He’s either scared of freezing to death when night falls, which is soon, or he’s what?” I prompted.

“Cooking?” She guessed.

“Exactly. In his mind, he’s cold and wet and hungry and a fire could solve all those problems for him. It’s nearing dusk, so he’s not counting on anyone seeing the smoke. He keeps trying and failing, obviously, so he must be getting frustrated. When his emotions run high, he’s more likely to make a mistake. Also, the ground is muddy, and every step he takes will leave a very traceable footprint.”

“And then we get him?” She looked excitedly at me.

“And then we get him.” I motioned for her to follow me and started moving towards the smell of the smoke.

“Why are we going this way?”

“This is the way the wind is blowing. We walk in the wind and trail the smoke and find him.” I kept light on my feet, as did Ymir. “Quiet now, Ymir. Hush until the action starts. I’ll give you the signal when it is time to attack.”

Our signal was three movements. When our hands were free, it was three fingers jerked three times toward the hunted party. When we used our foot, it was three jerks or taps in the same direction. When we could only use our eyes, it was three blinks then a head nod.

We moved as quietly and as quickly as we possibly could. We were silent lightning flashing in the woods. As we got closer to where he would surely be, I pointed a couple things out to Ymir. I slowed down and pointed all around us at the signs that something – or someone – human sized had been through here recently. She nodded at the crushed vegetation and the branches missing leaves at human height.

Soon, we came onto more obvious signs of his presence and even found a piece of torn fabric, which I sniffed and then held out for Ymir to sniff. She opened her mouth to ask why the hell we were sniffing the fabric, but I quickly put a finger to my lips to indicate she was still to be silent. I would explain to her later.

We reached a small clearing and I held up my hand that wasn’t clutching my revolver and flashed her two fingers with two jerks. Three means go, and two means that we’re close to going. She gave it back and crouched lower. We went around the edge of the clearing, until we saw the flickering of the fire. I looked back to Ymir and she nodded at me. Good, she saw it, too.

We watched the fire go out and heard a muffled string of curses in the distance. Ymir looked at me frantically with a smirk. I rolled my eyes. She was happy we found him, but was there any doubt that we would? I thought about her history as third hunter and remembered Erwin’s many harsh addressing of Ymir after she didn’t make a capture. I, however, had never lost a hunt until Eren. I guess in her mind, there was doubt as to whether we could get him. I would have to work on that with her.

We moved our angle just a bit and saw his bearded face light up in the fire he was trying to restart. I looked all around his campsite for signs of others, and didn’t find anything of note. He had a little dark blue triangular tent set up and the flap was open. I used my free hand to take out my spy glass.

I held it up to my eye and looked in his tent to see if it was possible that there was another person in there. The last thing we needed was for someone to come out of the tent and come to the criminal’s aid while we were taking him down. I saw he had a sleeping bag, a few books, and some food. I took note of the food he had and saw fresh perishables. The report on him said he had been missing for two weeks.

If he had been out here all this time, he should have already eaten all the food he had taken with him. If he, for some fucking reason, decided not to eat it, it should be rotten by now. Why keep rotten food in his tent? Because it wasn’t rotten, which means someone had to have brought him fresh supplies. He had a partner in crime.

I glanced down at Ymir and saw her hand was steady and gripping her dagger. Good. I didn’t know what I would do if she was shaking. We watched him for a few minutes and I could tell Ymir was getting antsy.She was used to spotting her hunt and just taking them in, but we were doing things my way. This criminal had been out here for two weeks, and by the looks of his piss-poor attempts at building a fire, he wasn’t exactly wilderness savvy. Someone was bringing him things like food and whatever else he had in his campsite. He had a partner, and I wanted both of them.

I shifted from a crouch to a kneeling position. I would still be ready for action when his partner, or partners, showed up, but my muscles wouldn’t fatigue from crouching too long. Ymir looked at me like I had lost my mind before copying my movements. We kneeled there in silence for about thirty minutes before Ymir started getting fed up. She could see her target and wanted him. She was a rampage kind of hunter, and waiting around wasn’t her style. However, if she wanted to improve, she would have to learn that the art of the hunt was as much a mental game as it was a physical one.

Ymir kept shooting me looks and raising her eyebrows at me. I just kept reassuring her by giving her a one finger signal. One finger meant that action would be not so soon, but stay alert. She kept returning it and by doing so, she was saying she was obeying my silent order to sit quietly. I had told her before we entered the woods to “shut her mouth and open her eyes”. This was a perfect example of why that was important.

I started to think that maybe the partner(s) weren’t going to show, but then it turned night. It was dark all around, and yet he (finally) kept a fire going and waited outside of his tent. Why would he not go into the tent were he could warm himself and get some rest? Simple. He was waiting for someone… and I was waiting for them, too.

He sat with his back to the section of woods were the person came from, so I saw the bobbing of the light coming closer and closer before he did. I noticed it was only one light, so it was at minimum one person and at maximum a very small group. Ymir and I could easily take down about six or so people, so I hoped it wasn’t more than that. As the light got closer, I pointed it to Ymir. She stared at it with a start.

I nodded, giving her a pointed look and then a two finger signal. She set her face in determination and then returned it. It was almost show time. I noticed how low the light was to the ground and wondered how short the person was. I was short myself, so I felt a little bad judging someone on their height. The fact of the matter, though, was that I had a lot of experience against tall opponents, and I could take down a tall man easily.

The man we were hunting eventually heard the footsteps and turned around.

“Jasmine?” He called out hesitantly. I froze, as did Ymir beside me. Jasmine. Jasmine. Oh fuck, was this a girl?

“Paul!” A very feminine voice called out.

“Sweetie!” He called out to her as she stepped through the vegetation into the clearing. I took one glace at the way they kissed upon greeting to figure out this was his lover. I looked over at Ymir and saw her looking at the ground near her feet. She had figured it out as well, and I could see the guilt in her eyes when we looked at me.

I gave her a two finger signal and looked her pointedly in the eyes as I cocked my revolver. Her eyes widened, but she returned my signal and held her dagger in a ready position. Aiding a criminal made this woman a criminal, too.

I used their coos of love to cover our padding closer and closer. He put out the fire and put her lantern in the tent. We had the cover of darkness now, only seeing each other in the moonlight, and the lantern inside the tent made it almost too easy for us to see what was going on in there. He held her in his arms and then pulled her into the tent after stashing her pack in as well. I figured the pack must be full of his new supplies. I would take this woman’s head to Erwin and use her pack as evidence of her crimes.

We watched their two shadows kiss and touch. Ymir kept giving me confused glances. She was confused as to why we just watching. I had to wait until he was more distracted by his lover before I made my move. If everything went well, I could take him in alive without a fight.

He undressed his lover and then took off his shirt himself. I gave Ymir a three finger signal and she looked at me wide eyed. She didn’t understand, but she would soon. I aimed my weapon and shot through the tent. I hit near his shoulder and the bullet tore right through the tent into a tree behind the tent. The woman screamed and the man dove on top of her and they pressed low to the ground. I stood up quickly, and Ymir followed my lead.

I saw his shadow form reach out and grab something gun shaped before he reached out again and smashed the lantern. It was dark in the tent now. I frowned, he was smart.

“Paul!” I called out, keeping my revolver aimed at where his head was the last time I saw him. I could hear the woman sobbing inside the tent and he hissed at her to shut up.

“Paul, come out slowly with your hands up! Nobody’s got to die tonight, Paul.” I paused thinking about what he had called her. Jasmine? I think. I would try that.

“Think about Jasmine! If I open fire, she will die.” I called to him, moving towards the left silently. Ymir followed behind me, which was good. Just as I had thought, Paul shot at where he had heard my voice before. I counted three shots before I called out again.

“You’re rats in a barrel, Paul! Be smart!” I motioned to Ymir to move to my other side. I didn’t want her getting hit.

“Fuck you!” He cried out and shot twice more at us and missing widely. That was five. If he had a six chamber revolver, which was the most common weapon around here, he had one more shot.

“You must really wish you and Jasmine were dead to fire at the first and third hunter!” I called louder. It was quiet for a moment before I heard Jasmine whisper harshly to Paul.

“First and third, babe! There’s two out there!” She cried to him.

Ymir smiled beside me. “We’re two of the best, too, bitches!”

It was silent for a minute, then he called out.

“She’s innocent in this! Let her get dresses and leave! Send her back to town with third hunter! First hunter, you and I will settle this alone.” He paused. “Like men.”

“You think women are lower than you? I’ll gut you like a fish!” Ymir sneered, stepping forward. I recognized her mistake just in time. I grabbed her arm and jerked her back just as a bullet whizzed past her.

“Fuck, Ymir, you okay?” I hissed at her, squeezing her wrist hard.

“Yeah, teach, I’m fine.” She said shakily, realizing that he was trying to get her to yell so he could shoot her.

Her calling me ‘teach’ brought me back to exactly what I was doing. I was setting an example for her, leading her, and guiding her. I straightened my back.

“Paul, come out, or I’m coming in! I will bring _both_ of your heads to the head hunter on a platter.” I growled to him and fired through the upper corner of his tent. Erwin was head hunter, and sometimes I thought it was more a reference to the number of heads he wants and not a reference to his positon as head of the hunters. I fired again in the same spot and listened to her scream.  I wasn’t worried about bullets, Erwin made sure I had plenty of them.

I listened. I was pretty sure he was out of bullets, but pretty sure wasn’t good enough. I motioned for Ymir to get behind me, and she obeyed. I was thankful for that; I would not have my student get hurt on the first day of training.

“She’s innocent!” He called.

“Then get the fuck out.” I said just loud enough for him to hear.

“Let us get dressed.” He begged.

“One minute.” I said. “I’m counting. So is Ymir.”

“Tick tock, tick tock…” Ymir sneered.

“Alright!” He cried. I heard them shuffling around in the tent. I heard a sharp couple noises that were pathetically covered up by some fake coughs. God, the idiot was reloading. A moment later, the flap opened and he came out.

“Hands up!” I called, aiming at his head.

“Let her go!” He cried, putting his hands up.

“Jasmine!” I called to her. “Get out here!”

“Just let her go! Take me to head hunter! Let us live and let her go!”

“ _Jasmine! Now!”_ I would have told Ymir to go in there after her, but I didn’t know if Jasmine had his weapon. When in doubt, I assumed that she did have it, it was loaded, and she could use it to hurt me and/or Ymir.

I heard some shuffling, and then Jasmine appeared fully dressed.

“Please, first hunter, third hunter… please, Paul is a good man-“ She started.

“Jasmine, just hush!” He hissed at her. “Let me handle this!”

Jasmine looked at me and found no sympathy, so she turned to Ymir.

“Please, hunter, please…I’m with child!” She cried.

Ymir looked at me pleadingly. “The task is only to take in him. Can’t we let the-“

I fired. Three things happened simultaneously. Jasmine screamed, Ymir jumped, and a bullet ripped through Paul’s chest.

“ _Paul! God!  Please, God!_ ” Jasmine ran over to her lover’s body.

“Jasmine, I suggest you step back.” I cocked my revolver again. This wasn’t over.

“Levi!” Ymir cried. She moved forward to grab me.

“ _Ymir._ Do you really think he would allow his pregnant lover to be taken away from him? He’s armed and he was planning on killing us.” I shot her a glare. “Grab the woman.”

Ymir hesitated before sheathing her unused dagger and moving toward the woman. I aimed at the woman’s head, hoping she wouldn’t do it.

“ _Bitch!_ ” Jasmine cried, grabbing the reloaded revolver from his corpse and turning on Ymir. I shot her through the head without hesitation. Her body jerked as the bullet powered through her skull and her brains splattered behind her with a wet _thunk_.

Jasmine’s corpse fell on top of Paul’s, and their blood mixed together. At least they died together. I tried not to think about the baby, if there even was one. Jasmine - no, the woman criminal – was a threat to my partner and therefore had to be taken care of.

“Fuck.” Ymir said as she fell on her knees. “Fuck, Levi.”

“The woman criminal was a threat to you, and for that reason she was taken out.”

“Jasmine had a baby-“ She started.

“No. That’s a criminal, not Jasmine. Don’t use their names.” I then added in a softer tone, placing my hand on her shoulder, “It makes it harder.”

“She didn’t do anything.” Ymir whispered. She was staring wide eyed at the corpses in front of us.

“She was aiding a criminal, and she attacked a hunter. She’s guilty.”

“She was defending her lover and the father of her child!” Ymir jumped up. I put my gun away anticipating what was about to happen.

“Monster.” She hissed and then she pushed me with both hands on my shoulders. I stepped back, not falling.

“Would you rather die? It was them or us, Ymir, and I chose us.” I stepped back as she swung at me and ducked away from it easily. I swept my leg under hers and she fell.

She laid there for a moment.

“There’s no use crying over criminal corpses. If you don’t remember what this man did, I’ll remind you.” I walked over to him and kicked his shoe. “This sack of shit robbed and murdered five people”

Ymir sat up and looked at me. “The baby-“

“You wanna talk about babies? What about all the children that have to grow up without parents? All the grieving mothers and brothers and sisters and – _look,_ Ymir, these two, maybe three, lives are worth avenging the five taken and protecting our town from losing anymore.”

“You sound like Erwin,” she spat, and my blood ran cold. “What are you going to say next? That the ends justify the means? You’re a heartless monster, like Erwin.”

I stalked over to her and grabbed the front of her shirt, pulling her up into a kneeling positon and glaring down at her.

“You wanted this. You wanted to see what it’s like to e first hunter. You wanted to be trained. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. You never had to kill an ‘innocent’ when you were third because all those assignments went to me and Mike took the ones that I couldn’t handle. I seem cold, but the difference between my reaction and yours is experience. We are hunters, and we must kill to protect. We take the burden. It is our duty.”

I pushed her back harshly. “Now get up and hold your head high. You protected every person in our town tonight.”

She didn’t move, just looking down at the ground.

“Being first hunter means killing innocents?”

“When we absolutely must.”

She eyed the corpses.

“When does it get better?” She asked, and I heard the emotion in her voice.

“I’ll let you know,” I said while brushing by her and rolling the woman off of the man. It hadn’t got better for me, and I wasn’t even sure it could get better.

I examined the contents of the pack and the tent while Ymir sat in thought. I put everything in the tent and closed the flap. I couldn’t have anything or anyone getting into the tent before Erwin gets a chance at it if he needs evidence or something for the Military Police.

I walked over to Ymir and saw her just sitting there, pulling up grass from all around her.

“Now we need to deal with the bodies.” I said gently, sitting down across from her. “Normally, I would try to make the load as light as possible-“

“You want to cut off their fucking heads, don’t you? You have a reputation for that.” She asked, obviously trying to disguise the pain in her voice.

“I don’t always cut off their heads. Only when I’m deep in the woods and don’t find it particularly fun to lug two hundred pounds of dead meat around with me.” I said, knowing I sounded like a monster.

“I’ll carry both if you can’t carry them. Just, please, please, _please,_ don’t cut off their heads.” She pleaded with me and I saw the pain all over her.

“Okay.” I stood up, wiping my hands on my pants. “I’ll carry the woman. I know you probably don’t want to touch her-“

“I’ll carry her.” Ymir said suddenly, standing up.

“Okay.” I said, picking up the man and throwing him over my shoulder. I felt his still hot blood slid down my back and ignored it. I always threw away my clothes after a messy hunt anyway.

Ymir picked up the woman bridal style and I let her walk in front of me on the way out of the forest. I didn’t want her to have to look at the man on my back all the way back. It meant that I had to look at the woman’s head at Ymir’s side. It was lolled back at an unnatural angle and her blood and brains were slurping out of her head and spilling on the forest floor. We made it about halfway before Ymir asked the first question.

“Why did you have me sniff the fabric?” She asked. She was referring to the strip of fabric that we had found torn on that bush.

“I wanted to see if we could find the smell of smoke on it. If we could, then that meant that he was wearing that when he built the fire. Smoke tends to cling to fabric, you know.”

Ymir hummed. “Why would he have traveled that far after trying to build the fire? The fabric wasn’t exactly right next to the campsite.”

“I knew we wouldn’t have found the smoke on it, but I wanted to get you in the habit of using all your senses.”

“Okay.” She paused. “How did you know Jas- I mean the woman – would show up?”

“Our report said that he had been out here for two weeks. He had fresh food in his tent. Someone had to have been bringing it to him.”

“Oh.” She walked quietly after that. I was the next one to break the silence.

“Do you hate me?” I asked her, feeling strangely emotional. It was weird for me to care what someone thought of me. Maybe my feelings for Eren had given me a weak spot, or maybe it was because Ymir was my one and only student. Either way, I actually did care.

“I don’t know.” She said after a while. “I don’t think I do… I’m kinda numb right now.”

“Yeah. It’s like that when you’re new.” I said to her, trying to comfort her.

“I’ve killed people before as third hunter, though.” She whispered as we neared the forest line. “Why does this feel so different?”

“Because those were all people that you had decided deserved it. You don’t think these two deserved it…Well, at least you don’t think the woman deserved it.”

“Yeah.”

We exited the forest and set down the bodies. We both stretched and rolled our joints. They popped and cracked and relief flooded though me. No matter how strong you were, carrying two hundred pounds through the forest is carrying two hundred pounds through the forest. It didn’t make it any easier that that two hundred pounds is dead criminal.

We grabbed our horses and threw the corpses on the back.

“You got tarps, right?” She asked. I looked at her and blinked.

“What?”

“Tarps, asshole, or blankets or something to cover up these bodies.” She tapped her feet and I tried not to stare at the blood all over the front of her body.

“Oh, yeah, I have sheets.” I pulled out the black sheets used specifically for this purpose and handed Ymir one. We covered up our corpses before riding back into town. We stopped just inside the gates and checked the bodies into the morgue.

Ymir and I rode back to the Survey Corps castle and parted ways there. I went right to the men’s showers and she went left for the women’s showers. She looked back at me before I opened the door to the shower and said just four words.

“I don’t hate you.”

I thought about a lot of things while I showered. I thought about Jasmine and Paul. I thought about what a cold hearted bastard I was.

“I’m a monster.” I whispered to myself as I watched the blood swirl down the drain. But was that true? Ymir and Eren’s faces went through my mind.

I was Ymir’s teacher and Eren’s savior. Teacher and savior didn’t match the description of a monster to me. I thought about Eren’s big green eyes and the way his wings looked when he was all healed up. I wanted to touch them. I thought about his soft lips and his first kiss.

How would he feel if I told him his first kiss went to a monster?

 


	5. Hanje

Eren POV

I don’t know what the hell Levi wanted me to do. Was I supposed to just forget the fact that he gave me my first kiss? What about how he saved my life? Was I supposed to forget about that, too? Was I ever going to see him again? And what of the girl, Ymir? Would she come back? Would she bring Levi with her? These were all questions I did not have the answer to.

I sat in the spot where Levi had kissed me and replayed the event over and over in my head. Why couldn’t it have lasted longer? I wanted to kiss him again. I wanted to touch him and caress him. I wanted to be touched by him. I even wanted him to stroke my wings. I knew we would have to be mates to do that, though. The thing was…I kind of wanted to mate with him.

I wondered what Mikasa and Armin would say if I told them I wanted to mate with a human. Levi wasn’t just any human either. He was a hunter. I wanted to mate with one of the ones that hunted and killed my species. We even had a special word for them in nymph language that when translated to common language literally meant “destroy of that which is beautiful”. The nymph species saw hunters as something barbarous: sadistic soldiers who hunted us down and killed us by ripping off our wings like savage animals.

To mate with a human was bad enough on its own. It was practically unheard of, and nymph x hunter relations were blasphemy. The stories that the elders told us in the band of human and nymph relations all took place long, long ago and always ended with the human ripping off the nymph’s wings to hang on a wall as a trophy or to sell. I always dismissed these tales as nothing more than something adults made up to scare little children and keep them from trying anything.

This wasn’t a story, though. It was real life, with real life consequences. Levi was a hunter, and though I was unsure of his rank, I was sure that he could kill me, should he chose to do so. He could report me to that awful man who shot me, and he would surely hurt me. He could help the first hunter lead an attack on the nymph band and kill everyone. Mikasa, Armin, and even Jean…they would all die if there was another siege on us.

The last one was fifty years ago, and the soldiers that surrounded us won the fight by lighting our forest on fire. The smoke clogged up the air so the soldiers couldn’t see to fight. The water nymphs tried their best to put it out, but the river was low that year, and it just wasn’t enough. The metal nymphs tried to work with the earth nymphs to build a wall, but the soldiers just sent flaming cannonballs over the wall. With us surrounded and everything on fire, most of us died. The elders talk about literally watching the wings of some nymphs singe off of their bodies.

The survivors fled and rebuilt deeper into the forest, where we were now. The story goes that our old band met up with another band that had also been attack and then we mated together and formed one band. Fifty years later, we were strong and protective over each other, but not so strong as to escape another siege without causalities.

I bit my lip, laying down in the spot where Levi had kissed me and looked up at the sky. I didn’t think Levi would hurt me or my family…but I also didn’t think Levi would kiss me.  Goodness, his lips had been so soft and oh so sweet. It made my head dizzy and something hot and deep in me stir when I thought about it. I chuckled to myself, stretching a bit. Mikasa would scream herself hoarse if she ever learned I had kissed a human hunter.

Thinking about Mikasa made me feel guilty. What were Armin and Mikasa doing? They had to be freaking out. Sure, the band could still function as a whole without me, but they loved me and they would be worried until I was home safe. I hoped that they didn’t do something foolish like send out a search party.

I had Levi – or I used to have Levi – to protect me and help me in the human lands. Mikasa and Armin and whoever else was in the search party wouldn’t have that. They would be on their own. There was no telling what would happen to them. It wasn’t like they could see me, with all these trees covering my location, not that they would know to fly over this particular section of forest anyway.

The only way I was going to get home is by flying myself there. I stood up and stretched out my wings to their full size, feeling the ache of expansion. I flapped the hard over and over and rose up easily into the air. Taking off was easy right now, it was the staying up that was hard for me. My wings started aching after a minute of climbing into the air. The pain started to fade and my wing joints on my back started to tingle as my healing powers kicked in. I had made it up to the height needed for extended flight when the pain came rushing back. I gasped and struggled to keep up.

I concentrated my healing energy on healing the joints while gliding downward. I looked all over for a place to land, not really wanting to go back to the river where I had so many memories. I looked all up and down the forest line when something glinting in the distance caught my eye. It was near what looked like a horse and something big and blue on the ground. I moved closer to it, angling my gliding body toward it. It got closer and closer and then I saw a dark form appear underneath it.

The form moved and my heart stopped. Was is the hunter who shot me? I thought about turning around, using all my strength to get away, but I didn’t. It might be Levi. I pressed onward, the pain in my wings dulling from the break of gliding and not beating up and down. I squinted at the shiny thing, then saw the form jumping up and down and dancing. Dancing? I saw the form bend down and then the shiny thing disappeared. The form straightened back up and started waving their hands at me over their head.

I flew closer and started to see the details of the person. They had long brown hair and big glasses. I thought about turning around now, since now I knew it wasn’t Levi, but I was curious. They weren’t dressed in a hunter uniform, but casually in a yellow button up and jeans. They danced around, slinging their loose brown hair around as I got closer. I landed gently on the ground and looked around for signs of other humans. There wasn’t any. They ran toward me and jumped up and down in front of me as soon as I landed.

“Oh! Wow! You are just gorgeous!” They looked me up and down. “Exquisite indeed!”

“Thank you?” I said, not really knowing how to talk to a human. I shuffled back on my feet, the memory of being shot still fresh in my mind.

“Oh, you don’t need to be afraid of me! I’m a simple scientist! I study nymphs, not kill them!” They said, looking at my shifting feet.

“I’m Hanje, and I use they/them pronouns. What is your name and pronouns?” They extended their hand to me and I shook it, wiping my hand on my pants afterward because of their excited sweating.

“I’m Eren. I use he/him. Thanks for asking.” I said. I was truly happy that Hanje asked for my pronouns. Even though I was cisgender, not all the nymphs were, and there had been a lot of hurt feelings over misgendering that could have been avoided by that simple question.

“Oh, sure, sure. I get tired of people insulting me by picking either she/her or he/him to use so I started introducing myself like that.” They smiled wide at me. “Like I said, I’m a simple scientist, and I have no interest in taking your wings. May we sit and talk a bit?”

“I dunno.” I said, rocking back and forth. “Will there be other humans?”

“Not at all.” They paused. “I’ll answer any questions you have about humans.”

“Deal.” I said, nodding up and down. I would talk to them if it meant I could get some answers about humans.

“Do you mind if I write this down? You are the first nymph I’ve ever seen or talked to.”

“Write it all down, Hanje, I don’t mind.”

They took out a notebook from their back pocket and flipped it open. They gestured for me to follow them back to the spot where they had been with the shiny thing and I followed.

“I’m glad you asked about the pronouns because one of my friends, Nanaba, is a transwoman, and she is very hurt when people don’t respect her pronouns. Then there is Ilse, a nonbinary who uses they/them.”

“Yes! Transgender nymphs! I knew they existed, but now I have proof! I’m so happy!” They danced around.

They lead me to the horse I had seen and it turns out that big blue thing was a blanket on the ground. They offered me a seat on it and I tucked my wings in politely and sat on it with them. They had a little picnic basket with them, and offered me a drink and some fruit. I gladly accepted.

“So, Eren, where should we begin?”

“Well, Armin always says to just begin at the beginning.” I laughed.

“Armin?” They said, writing his name down in their book.

“Yeah, uh, Armin, he/him, water nymph,” I said, covering the basics. They wrote it down next to his name.

“Tell my about water nymphs.”

“They have command over water. They can transport it to where ever it needs to go, breathe underwater, communicate with fish, and they’re feathers are naturally water proof.”

They wrote this all down, nodding. “And you are?”

“A healing nymph.”

I watched them write in their note book. _Eren – he/him, healing nymph, a real cutie patootie._

I blushed. I was a cutie patootie.

“Tell me about that.”

“I communicate with people’s bodies and heal them. It’s a little hard to explain, but I know instantly what’s wrong with a person by touching them and then I, like, synch myself with them and then I push healing energy into them.”

“What does that feel like?” They asked.

“It tingles, but in a good way.” I said. For some reason, they found this hilarious and laughed until they started snorting.

“Wow! Okay!” They smacked their knee, but regained enough composure to ask about the other types.

“Well, in addition to healing nymphs and water nymphs, there is earth, metal and rock, beast, air, and fire. Of course, earth and water are the most important. Fire and air and the strongest. Beast, metal and rock, and healers are only kinda useful sometimes.”

“Mmmmhmmm. Can you give me examples of each? Like Armin is water and you are healing?”

“Well, my sister, Mikasa, she/her, is earth. She specializes in vines and making new species-“

“Holy shit.” Hanje said in awe.

“Yeah,” I grumbled. Why couldn’t I be awesome? “Annie, she/her, is an air nymph. She can fly at incredible speeds and she and the rest of the air nymphs defend us from trouble and survey out territory. Krista, she/her is a fire nymph, though no one knows why. She’s so tiny and sweet and she’s a fire nymph. If you ask me, she would be better suited for water nymph, or beast nymph. She didn’t get to choose, though, it came from her parents and-“

“So, types are genetic?” They interrupted.

“Yeah. Ummm, anyway, she would be better as a beast nymph, like Bertolt, he/him. He can communicate with animals. Beast nymphs usually spend all day out frolicking with bunnies and shit like that. That seems more like Krista than fire, but, hey, I’m a useless healing nymph, who am I to talk? Let’s see… Oh! Horseface!”

They looked at me in shock. “Horseface?”

“Jean, he/him. He’s so unfortunate. He looks like a horse.” I smiled. “He’s a metal and rock nymph. He can make little things out of metal and rock. We fight all the time about who’s the most useless. It’s him. He’s really not useful. The worst part of all is that he’s in love with a powerful earth nymph named Marco.”

Talking about Marco made me think of Ymir.

“Hey, Hanje?” I said, looking at them scribbling furiously in their book.

“Hmmm?”

“Do you know a human named Ymir?”

They stopped. They looked at me with an unreadable expression. “Yes.”

“Do you know a human named Levi? He might hang around with Ymir?”

“I know Levi very well.” They said. I was suddenly suspicious.

“You know two hunters?”

“Yeah.”

“Hanje, did you know that the hunters shot me down not too long ago?” I wanted to know if Hanje was really ‘just a simple scientist’.

“I did know that, yes.” They nodded at me slowly.

“How?”

“I was there.” They admitted.

“Bye.” I said, standing up quickly.

“No! Eren! I’m not a hunter! I’m a medic and a scientist! I have no weapon, look!” They jumped up and held onto my wrist.

“Oh, yeah? What was that shiny thing you were holding when I flew in?” I said just before my power hit me. Hanje was fine except for a slight headache and a sunburn over their shoulders. I sent some healing vibes their way, not enough for them to feel it, but enough for their headache to vanish and their sunburn to heal most of the way.

“A telescope! It’s just a telescope! Like a spyglass! I swear it! It’s in my bag, I’ll show you!” They said.

“Fine.”

“Don’t fly away.” They said cautiously letting go of my wrist.

“Depends on what’s in that bag.”

“That’s fair enough,” they crouched next to the bag and rifled through it until they found a long, silver object.

They extended the scope and handed it to me. I placed it up to my eye and looked through, jumping back as I saw a blown up vision of their pupil.

“I was scanning the place where I had seen you go down, and I was hoping to see you fly out and maybe meet you.” They said quietly. “This is like a dream come true.”

I handed the telescope back to them. “Alright, Hanje, we can talk a little bit more.”

“Okay. Anything, Eren, I’ll talk about anything.”

“Levi. Talk about Levi.” I looked them deep in the eyes.

“Anything else.”

“Why can’t we talk about Levi?” I said, leaning forward.

“He doesn’t like people to talk about him. But…” They looked at the ground for a second before looking back at me, “I’ll make an exception for a nymph. How do you know Levi, anyway?”

“He saved me. He carried me to a river and helped heal me. He protected me from that evil man who shot me.”

“Erwin. The man who shot you down was Erwin. He’s head hunter.”

“Erwin?” I thought about Ymir’s comments to Levi about Erwin’s cock. Was Erwin the one that pounded Levi so hard he got hurt? “Are Levi and Erwin mates?”

“Oh, god, no. They’re just fucking.” They took out another apple and bit into it.

“Just fucking?”

“They’re having sex without emotional attachment.”

“So, they are mating?”

“Well, if fucking is mating to you, then, yes. Erwin and Levi are mating.”

“But-but that just can’t be!” I cried out.

“Oh? Why not? Feeling some attachment to Levi?” They raised their eyebrows.

“He kissed me!” I said. Hanje dropped their apple.

“He did what?”

“He gave me my first kiss!” I covered my face with my hands.

“Levi gave you your first kiss?” They looked at me from over their glasses.

“That’s what I said, yeah! He kissed me so gently and he was so sweet and I- I want to kiss him again! I want to mate with Levi!” I covered my mouth with my hands as soon as I realized what I said.

“Well,” they said, picking the apple up off the blanket, flicking the ants off of it, and taking a big bite,” that’s the best thing I’ve heard all damn day.”

I tried not to cringe at them talking with their mouth full. “Is it really a good thing?”

“Yeah. Levi is a lonely little gay boy. He needs a hot little nymph in his bed to cheer him up.” They winked at me.

“But if Erwin and Levi are mating, then I have no right to claim Levi! I can’t steal Erwin’s mate!” I hated Erwin for what he did to me, but a bond between mates was sacred.

“Look, Eren, cutie, just follow your heart. Trust me, if Levi didn’t want to mate with you, he wouldn’t have kissed you. It’s not like he’s just bursting with affection.”

“But he told me he wouldn’t ever see me again! He told me to come back where I came from!”

“ _Cutie_ , listen to Hanje now. Levi is a complicated, miserable little shit. He is a clean-freak, pessimistic, shit-loving shortie. He is afraid to get close to anyone since he has seen so many horrible things happen underground.”

“Underground?”

“Where Levi’s from?”

“He lived _underground_? Like a mole?” I asked, looking at them like they had grown another head.

“No, honey bun, he lived in city that was called the underground because it had a reputation for being hell on earth. Lots of bad shit goes down there. Lots. He’s scared of seeing his loved ones die like he saw so many people die underground, and so he just doesn’t love people. Well, he pretends to not love people. He loves me.” They gestured toward themself. “I’m his best friend.”

“So, he wants to love me, but he’s not letting himself?”

“Exactly, he thinks he’s a monster undeserving of love.”

“Why? Why would he think that?”

“You’re gonna have to get the story from him, cutie.” Hanje reached out and stroked my hand. I felt their sunburn had healed nearly completely by now and sent a final wave of healing to them.

“Woah, is that a breeze? My back is tingling.” They said, letting go and stretching at their back.

“I healed the sunburn.” I said, shrugging. They looked at me wide-eyed.

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s what I do. I healed that headache you had earlier, too.”

“Eren, you are incredible.” They clapped their hands.

“Hush. I’m just a bottle of aspirin and some aloe.”

“Yeah, but you’re a _hot_ bottle of aspirin and some aloe.” They laughed, leaning their head back.

Later that day, after we finished talking, I helped them pack up their things and ready their horse. I took a moment to peek into their notebook.

_Eren- he/him, healing nymph, a real cutie patootie, healed my headache and sunburn, really useful, really hot, Levi’s future mate_

I slipped it back into their bag. Those few notes gave me a lot to think about.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter will be Hanje confronting Levi with their newfound information and eren and levi will be back together again, and then the next chapter after that might be a side pairing chapter. beast nymph! bert and hunter!reiner has been gnawing at me, buttttttt its not the right time for it uggggghhhhhhhhh... maybe a little yumikuri instead


	6. Boar (Reibert)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> trigger warnings for mentions of past survival sex and abuse  
> also an animal - a boar- gets hurt 
> 
> also - reibert porn :D so sexual content

Reiner POV

Fuck everyone and everything. Fuck Erwin. Fuck all the hunters that are higher ranking, especially Levi. You know what? Fuck all the ones that are lower ranking, too. Fuck everyone who I had to compete with for what I had.

Most of all, fuck my dad. When I had come out of the closet as gay, he promptly slammed the door in my face. I wasn’t allowed to take anything, not even my winter jacket and it was snowing when he kicked me out. He literally burned all of my things. “Cleansing”, he had called it. Like being gay was a dirty, sinful thing.

The night he had kicked me out, I had spent the whole night trying to hunt for food. I was scared that if I stopped moving, I would freeze to death. Not that anyone would care. They would find my corpse and say, “Oh, that’s just big, dumb Reiner. Went out in the snow and died. Hahaha, so stupid and big.” Then, my father would probably come along and burn my corpse, too. Would that make it clean enough for him? Doesn’t matter either way, because I didn’t give him the chance.

I worked from the ground up and made it to fourth hunter through blood and sacrifice. I did whatever I had to do to keep moving up the ladder. One day I would be head hunter and I would shove that right in my father’s face. He had always loved to tell me how stupid I was and how I would never do anything with my life. Well, the head hunter was one of the most respected people in the town. I would earn that respect or die trying. Then, no one could ever say I was nothing.

That means I had to beat Ymir, Mike, Levi, and Erwin. I had spent many nights lying awake and thinking over strategy. I had a plan in place of slowly but surely moving up and waiting for the old guys -Erwin, Mike, and Levi- to retire and then taking Ymir out, by beating her skill. I didn’t care how. I would do this. However, my plans had been shattered by whatever the fuck Ymir and Levi were doing.

Ymir and Levi had been hanging out in hunts way too often for my liking. Sometimes they would come back with criminals, dead or alive, and sometimes not. Either way, Ymir’s skills had been improving with every time they went out and that was not okay with me. I had to get better to keep up with her and keep fifth hunter, Petra, off my heels.

I needed a new plan. There had to be something I could do to boost my ranking. Every time I looked at the hunter board, I would lose it a little bit. I was like a rope on its last thread. I looked over the assignment board eagerly each day, trying for the biggest hunt I could besides the nymph, who was level white.

The hunt started when a hunter, or a group of hunters who had agreed to split the reward, went to the assignment board. It was a board full of mug shots of criminals and their information. They were color coded from purple (lowest threat and lowest reward) through blue, green, yellow, orange, and up to red (highest threat and highest reward). We also called them levels one -six because successful completion of a purple assignment would earn you one point, while a red assignment would earn you six. The only exception to the colors and points system was nymphs, who were level white (special case) and the reward for them was set by the head hunter. That nymph from before was worth two hundred fucking points. Two motherfucking hundred. That’s what I made in my first three years as a hunter.

The first hunter was the one with the most points, and everyone else fell below them. Right now, I had exactly three hundred and twenty. Three hundred and twenty in five years. I had worked my ass off for every one of them, believe me. Petra was at my heels with three hundred, in only four. A couple high ranking hunts and she could knock me down a peg. That was just unacceptable. I refused to go back to being fifth. I had to get past Ymir, who had four hundred and fifteen in six years. Mike had six hundred and thirty-three in ten years, but he was slowing down a lot recently. Levi, the nightwalker from the underground, a real killing machine, had one thousand two hundred and ten. It was first time in history a hunter had over a thousand. He made it look effortless, too. Fucker.

I had to think of a new plan, so I went hunting. Not for criminals, but for one of the colossal boars deep in the forest. No one ever really went over there because it was a long ride away, too close to nymph territory for most people’s liking. I didn’t even know there were colossal boars over there until I heard tenth and eleventh hunter, also known as Sasha and Connie, talking about cooking one up. I might not be able to hunt down that nymph, but I knew I could take down a boar. How colossal can colossal be, anyway? I might have to get two or three to even feed everyone. That is, if my horse could handle it.

I could just see it now, all the smiling faces as they ate some freshly cooked boar meat. I would be the one to do that. They would look at me and say, “Good job, Reiner. You did a good thing.” They would call me brave for venturing so close to the nymphs. Those monsters.

The nymphs were barbarous monsters that needed to be put down. They made fire out of thin air to burn humans alive, they used water powers to poison our water supply, and not to even fucking mention the freaky shit they can do with plants to make us all starve to death or die of toxins. Demons. Whatever. I would kill any of them I saw. I was well armed. I had all my daggers in my straps and I carried a hunting rifle on me. I would kill any nymph I saw on sight. No hesitation.

As I walked through the forest, I began to feel a little more nervous than usual. I felt like at any moment, something big would happen. I felt someone or something watching me. It sent shivers down my spine, but I braved through it. It must be all this thinking about nymphs that was causing it. I was fine.

It was then that I heard the squeals of a wild boar. I froze in my place and made sure my rifle was ready before I slowly made my way over to the squeals. As I pushed the forest vegetation out of the way, I smirked. That thing was only three times as big as a regular wild boar. It was big, yes, but colossal? No.

I aimed for it and quickly pulled the trigger. I hit it in the leg, crippling it. It called out loudly, its high pitched wail grating on my ears as it danced around. I aimed again quickly, not wanting to lose this chance when _something_ let out the most violent, angry roar I had ever hear din my life. It was so loud I dropped my rifle and held my hands over my ringing ears. I could hear anything except that ringing, but I could feel the ground shake as that _thing_ ran over. It burst into my line of sight and I took it in.

Now _that_ was a colossal boar. It was at least ten times bigger than a normal boar and angry as hell. I realized quickly I must have just shot its baby and started to panic even more. I scrambled around in the forest floor plants for my rifle and the noise cause the parent boar to lock in on me. It let out that god forsaken screech again and I fell on my knees, covering my ears with my hands. The ringing came back, and a whole lot worse. I didn’t think about that, though, because the ground suddenly shook so much I thought I might be going through an earthquake in addition to having a colossal boar charging at me. Rifle be damned, I ran. Bullets couldn’t put down that demon anyway. I was fucked.

Berthold POV

I had been helping mother rabbits care for their runts when it happened.

 _“Baby! Hurt baby!”_ I heard a mother colossal boar scream.

I looked quickly at the rabbits and spoke to them. “I should go check on the colossal boar baby. The mother just screamed that it was hurt.”

“ _I will care for the smallest one now_.” The mother hopped over and I gave her her baby back.

I spread my black wings and flew into the sky, heading toward where I heard the sound come from. It was my duty as a beast nymph to make sure the animals that lived with us were at peace. I spoke with many animals frequently, my power allowing me to communicate with them all, even if they could not understand each other.

The further away two animals were species wise, the harder it is for them to understand each other. It’s like with nymph bands. The further away a nymph band is from me and my home band, the harder it is to communicate with them because of accents and language barriers. The rabbit I was helping could not understand the boar’s cries, but she would understand the cries of her own species and those very close to her.

“ _HUMAN! I’LL WILL KILL HUMAN!”_ I heard the mother boar scream and I rushed toward the sound. Human? There was a human here? Could they have Eren with them? Oh, no! What if they were trying to return Eren and a misunderstanding happened? I couldn’t allow a human who was trying to help die! It wasn’t the way of the gentle nymphs to allow such things to happen.

I flew down close to the tree line and saw the rushing form of the mother boar.

“Wait!” I screamed to her.

“ _HUMAN HURT BABY!”_ She screamed and charged harder.

“FUCK!” I heard the human scream. I flew down and landed on the mother’s back, gripping her hair. I felt her powerful muscles rippling beneath her skin and I held on tighter.

“Please! Wait!” I called, tugging on her hair to get her attention.

“ _HURT BABY!”_ She screamed.

“I can heal baby!” I called to her. “I can heal baby, but only if you stop!”

She slowed down a bit. “ _Baby heal if I stop?”_

“Yes! I will heal baby but only if you leave this human alone!”

“ _But human hurt baby!”_

“Human doesn’t deserve to die if baby does not die.” I said.

“ _Will baby die? Baby is bleeding.”_

“Not if I heal baby.” I said to her. “I will heal baby if you stop.”

“ _I will stop. To save baby’s life I will spare human.”_ She stopped, panting hard. I slumped against her and watched as the human still scrambled away.

“Eagle!” I called. “Help!”

An eagle flew down and landed on a branch near me.

“ _Berthold?”_ The eagle asked. They all knew my name as I spent most of my time out here with them, flying with them and playing.

“Fly to the other beast nymphs and tell them Mother Boar’s baby needs a healing nymph. Tell them Mother Boar spared a human’s life in exchange for this.”

“ _Human here?”_

“Yes. Human will not hurt any other creatures. I will see to it.” I was angry now. “Mother Boar, how did this human hurt baby?”

“ _With a long thing that made a little thunder clap. Hit baby’s leg.”_

That could only be a gun. I growled.

“Eagle go now. Mother Boar, return to baby. I will take care of human. They will not hurt anyone else.”

They both obeyed me as I flew after the human. As I was on wings and he on foot, I met him quickly. I landed in front of him, thinking he would stop, but he didn’t. In his panicked run, he knocked me over and we rolled in the forest a bit before we came to stop in a patch of long grass. He quickly pinned me down and grabbed a dagger out of his uniform straps.

“If you kill me, you will die, as well.” I said slowly, seeing the snakes crawl up to us. They knew me very well, and they, as all the animals did, loved me.

“Oh, yeah? Wanna bet?” The large blond human said as they pressed the blade harder to my throat. “Monster.”

“ _Kill the human? Bite them dead?”_ one of the snakes asked. I recognized him as one of the most venomous ones in the whole forest. He could kill this human with one bite; however, the human had not killed the baby colossal boar, and therefore they would live.

“Take the dagger away from them.” I commanded. The human’s eyes got wide and they looked around us at human height, looking for someone else. They didn’t look down at the snakes who moved closer until one started slithering up their arm. They looked back down at the mess of snakes crawling on me and toward them and got very pale. They screamed, falling back off of me and I saw the snake wrap around their hand. They was forced to let go of the dagger when one non-venomous snake bit their hand in just the right place.

I stood up and walked over to them writhing in a mass of snakes. I slipped my hand down to their straps and took each dagger out one by one and threw them deep into the forest. Later, I would ask the animals who had found them and get them back.

“Leave them to me now.” I said, and the snakes left them alone.

They immediately reached down and grabbed for the daggers that weren’t there.

“Don’t move.” I ordered them. “I will bring the snakes back if you do.”

“Please, fuck, man, I’m afraid of snakes.” They begged.

“You’ll be more afraid of them as their venom melts your flesh off. Stay still. I want to talk.” I moved closer to them. “I will be gentle if you will be gentle.”

“Gentle? You just did black nymph magic and had my ass attacked by snakes.”

“You shot baby boar.” I sat next to them. They moved to sit up, but I snapped at them to stay lying down.

“Yeah…you’re right.” They frowned. “Maybe I am stupid.”

“Not stupid. Just mean.” I said. I hated the word stupid. It was like the word useless, which was used to describe me. I wasn’t useless and this human, who was mean to baby boar, is surely smart at something else.

They gave me a curious look.

“I am Berthold. I use he/him pronouns. I am a beast nymph, which means I can talk to animals. That’s how I saved you and how I got the snakes to get the dagger.” I gave them the basics. “You are?”

“Reiner. Hunter.” They grunted. So this person was a hunter. Judging by the straps and the impressive number and quality of the daggers I got from them, this human was a nymph hunter as well.

“Pronouns?”

“He.” He said, looking around.

“Before we go any further, promise not to hurt any more animals.” When he didn’t say anything, I turned to the snakes.

“Fuck! I won’t hurt any other animal!”

“Reiner, why did you hurt the baby colossal boar?” I asked him.

“I needed the meat.”  

“Why?” I asked, trying not to let the anger show. The snakes were still around and if they heard me angry, they might assume Reiner had threatened an animal again.

“Because I wanted the other hunters to respect me. You know what? I don’t need to explain myself to you. You’re the monster here, not me. Why don’t you just kill me? That’s all your kind is good for anyway.”

“Why do the other hunters not respect you?” I asked him, trying to get him off the topic of killing me.

“Fucking hell, man, just kill me already.” He glared at me. I looked him over and cocked my head to the side. He was very attractive, all tall with ivory skin and hair the color of a baby chick’s fluff. I reached my hand out and he winced away from me before steeling himself. I didn’t know why; I was just going to feel his hair.

It was a bit of a letdown that his hair didn’t feel like a chick’s fluff. It was wet with sweat and dirty with mud and didn’t feel good at all. I moved my hand down his face and felt his skin, which was surprisingly soft. I moved my fingertips down his cheek lightly and his face twisted up.

“Just do it, you bastard.” He hissed at me.

“I’m not going to kill you.” I assured him.

“Yes, you are.” His blue eyes where hard on mine.

“Are you asking to be killed? Are you suicidal? We can talk if you want.” I offered him.

“Fuck you.” His hand twitched and I thought he would try to hit me. I was a little shocked by his words.

“You want to mate?” I pulled my hand away from him.

“Want to mate- What the fuck are you talking about?” He eyed me.

“You said, ‘fuck you’. You want to mate me?” I asked him.

“What? No! Fucking hell, man!” He looked away but I saw his little blush. “Just kill me!”

“I’m not going to.” I whispered. My stomach curled at the thought of mating with him. It seemed like a scene out of a fairy tale. I save him, we fight a little, then he lovingly takes my virginity in the soft grass of my forest and we live happily ever after. It would never happen, though.

“Of course you are. You’re an unnatural monster. You fucking talk to animals. Just… please don’t kill me with the snakes. I’m afraid of the fuckers.”

“You think I’m a monster?” I asked him, hurt that he would think that.

“Yeah. You fuckers kill humans left and right when we get too close.”

“What? No, we don’t! Humans are the ones that kill us-“

“You guys make fire and burn us alive and-“

“That’s you! You were the ones who led the fire siege against the nymphs-“

“You know what? I’m not arguing this point with you.” He glared at me. “My last words are, ‘Fuck you, Ymir, Mike, Levi, Erwin, and, most of all, Dad.’”

“I’m not gonna kill you.” I insisted. I waited on him to say something, but he didn’t.

“Why are your last words a confession that you wish to mate with those people? You wish to mate with your father?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Fucking hell, man. I was staying quiet so those could be my last words but now I’m going to have to spend my last words explaining to you what fuck means.” He looked up at me. “First, can I sit up?”

“Do you promise not to try and hurt me?” I asked.

“I won’t hurt you.” He said.

“Then sit up.” I said, and he did. He rubbed the back of his head nervously as he looked around himself. I thought I maybe should try to get him out of here, but I didn’t want him to go. He had this look in his eye that reminded me of a trapped animal, and I wanted to free him. Sadly, it was harder to communicate with this animal than actual animals.

“The word ‘fuck’ can be used as an insult. I’m insulting those people, not saying I want to shove my dick in them.” He explained.

“Why do you want to insult your father?” I asked.

“It’s none of your- you know what? I’ll talk. I’m gonna die soon anyway. Might as well have one person know the full story. Even if it is a nymph.” Reiner took a deep breath before he told me about how his father kicked him out after learning he was gay and the things he had to do to survive. He choked up a bit at having to describe fucking a stranger for a place to stay so that he didn’t freeze to death in the snow. I was shocked at the lack of support from other humans.

“No humans would take you in?”

“I didn’t have any family left.” He admitted.

“You and the stranger and your father were the only three humans left in your home?”

“No. There’s lots of people there. They just don’t want me, okay?”

“They don’t want their family?”

“I’m not their family!” He snapped. “I have no family!”

“Are all the humans in your home not all family with the other humans-“

“No! God! That would be weird as shit so shut up.”

“For us nymphs, we are all family. If one nymph were to ever hurt another nymph, we would all ban together against the abusing nymph and protect the abused nymph. So far it has only happened once, many, many years ago.” I explained. “I’m sorry if my ignorance makes you angry.”

“It’s okay.” He looked down.

“Do you have a mate? Children?” I asked trying to think of something to make him happy.

“Nah. I don’t have a man, or kids.”

“Then you can have family. You just need a mate! He will be your family.” I smiled at him, and then held his hand. He looked down at our hands and then back up to me.

“You putting the moves on me, Berthold?” He asked, sounding a bit angry.

“What do you mean?”

“You keep, like, petting me and touching me. I think you’re trying to kill me with your nymph dark magic at first, but them you end up being gentle. It’s fucked up. You trying to get my dick or something?”

“Do humans not touch each other?”

“They do when they want to fuck.”

“I’m sorry if it seems like I’m touching you for sex. I’m a beast nymph, so I’m used to stroking animals and petting them and touching whoever I am speaking with. Besides, you feel good to touch.”

“This is a dream.” He said, blushing a bit but also glaring. “This is a fucked up sex dream. I’m not in this forest right now. I’m asleep and having a fucking fantasy.”

“You are awake.” I said.

“Nah. I’m making this up in my head. Gentle, sexy nymph who swoops down and saves me and then is all fucking kinds of powerful with snakes and shit and…just talking about mating and… ugh, I’m bad at this. Can we just get to the fucking part of the dream? I need to wake up so I can train and beat Ymir and her sneaking around ass.”

“Get to the- _Mmmmph!_ ” I was cut off as he leaned over and kissed me, his mouth insistent against mine. He tangled his free hand in my hair and held me close while his other hand let go of my mine and stroked my chest.

I pushed him away. “You are awake!” I

“If this was real, I would be dead and you wouldn’t be nearly as sexy.” He pulled me back in for another kiss, mumbling, “I probably died being trampled by that boar,” against my lips. He moved his lips down to my throat and I trembled at this new pleasure. He suddenly palmed me through my shorts and I moaned. He cupped me and I shook my head. I wanted to mate with him, but he needed to know this wasn’t a dream.

“Reiner!” I called. “You are awake!”

“Sssshhh…just lay back and I’ll take care of you.” He stroked my face. “I only get to show my gentle side in sex dreams-“

“This is real! I’ll prove it!” I stood up and grabbed his wrist firmly. “Don’t let go!”

I flapped my wings a few times, much harder than I usually have to because of the extra weight. The flight was very short, but accomplished what needed to be accomplished.

“FUCK! FUCK! I BELIEVE YOU! I’M AWAKE!” He screamed as we rose up past the trees. I lowered up directly back down and we ended up in the same spot.

“You believe you’re awake now?” I asked him gently.

“Yeah. My mind couldn’t make _that_ up. That was fucking terrifying. But…” He looked at me,” it was also exhilarating.”

“It’s much better if we actually fly instead of going up and going down. If you want-“

“No!” He leaned forward as he said it, and I thought he wanted a kiss. I met his lips and pecked their softness a few times. He stiffened. He pushed me roughly away and I fell back.

“What-“

“Don’t do that. I don’t want to fuck a nymph. It’s unnatural.” He shot at me.

“Isn’t that what your dad said about being gay?” I said. His jaw clenched and his hands curled into fists.

“Shut up.”

“You want to be like him, Reiner? Because-“

“I said shut up!” He pinned me down and glared at me. “You shouldn’t make me feel all flustered with your gentle touches and your sweet face. Stop that! Just stop being cute! I’ve never been touched gently my whole life and then you just start petting me and making me all tingly!”

“That was the first time anyone has ever touched me.” I admitted, caught off guard by how much I liked him on top of me.

“What?” His eyebrows knitted together.

“I’ve never mated. Will you mate me?” I asked him. I didn’t care that he was a human. That could be worked out.

“You-what?” Reiner blinked at me. “Did you just ask me to take your virginity?”

“It feels good when you touch me.” I whispered. “You said you are attracted to me. You can mate me.”

“I-I-Fucking hell, Berthold,” He leaned away from me but I could see the conflict in his small, blue eyes.

“I don’t have a mate, if that’s what you are worried about. I’m not really… interested in the other single, gay nymphs. There aren’t a lot of them to begin with. Most nymphs already have a mate. “I stroked at his chest.

“Why do humans wear cover their upper bodies?” I tugged at his shirt. I wished he would just take it off. I wanted to see him shirtless, like a nymph. Nymphs only covered their lower bodies. Even in the winter, if we cover up, it is with blankets and things.

“Because you aren’t just supposed to walk around naked.” He grunted. He looked over my exposed upper body, his eyes lingering on my nipples.

“I’m not naked, though. My sexual organs are covered, so I am dressed.” I cocked my head. “How do people with breasts feed their babies if they are covered up?”

“You mean even girls don’t wear clothes? Boobs are just hanging out everywhere? God.” He shook his head. “Nymphs.”

“Not everyone with breasts is a girl and not every girl has breasts.” I said, wondering if the humans were educated about genders like the nymphs were. “And no, none of us cover our upper halves. Well, sometimes we wear scarfs that might cover us a bit,” I remembered Eren’s sister, Mikasa,” but we don’t cover ourselves like you do.”

“Boobs just everywhere.” He shook his head.

“Do you anything about Eren?” I asked him gently. Remembering Mikasa had brought me out of my wanting to mate

“Eren?”

“The nymph that has gone missing. His sister says he might have gone into human territory. We’re all really worried. We might send a search party, but we don’t know what we are flying into.”

“Dark hair, brown wings, tan skin-?”

“Yes! Eren! He is with the humans?”

“He’s dead.” Reiner said, and my blood chilled.

“No. He can’t be.”

“He crashed down in the forest and then no more signs of him were found. Erwin’s got every hunter who is worth a damn tracking him down. However, Levi hasn’t found him, yet, and Levi is the best. The dude can’t be touched,” He frowned. “If Levi hasn’t found him, he’s dead. His corpse was probably eaten-“

“Wolf!” I screamed.

“Whoa, Berthold! I thought you said you wouldn’t kill me!”

“ _Nymph Berthold.”_ A large black wolf came bounding toward me with a howl.

“FUCK!” Reiner started to stand to run away but the wolf growled at him, He froze.

“ _Do you need help taking out this human?_ ” The wolf, one I recognized as the alpha of a local pack, asked me as more and more wolves came to flank him.

“No. I need you to ask the wolf packs on the human side if any have come across-“I gulped, “a corpse of a nymph.”

“ _Dead nymph? Who? Mina?”_ The wolf named the beast nymph who mostly worked with the wolves.

“No. Eren, a healer.”

The wolf pinned his ears back. “ _Very well._ ” The wolf howled loudly and several other howls came through the woods from varying distances away.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, man-“

“You’re not going to die. I’m sending them for information about Eren.” I said to him. I crawled over to where he was trembling a little bit away from me. He looked me over as I was on all fours, staring at my back.

Reiner POV

If I cycled through horny to scared to horny to scared one more time, I was going to pass out. I still wasn’t entirely convinced that I wasn’t dreaming, this was all so unbelievable. Yet, at the same time, there’s no way I could have made this up. Especially that flight. My whole body had been tingling with adrenaline. That nymph.

 _That nymph_. He was so soft and gentle and sensitive. He made me horny in a way that wasn’t exclusively physical. But… at the same time, I could allow this to happen. Nymphs were the enemy…right?

I watched him crawl on all fours over to me and stared at the black wings on his back. They looked soft and I wondered what it would feel like to touch them… or just to touch him at all. His skin was the soft color of a fawn and his hair was black like his wings. His eyes were forest green with a little brown near the center, but not enough that I would call them hazel. He was muscular without being overly so and his nipple were a brown pink that I liked a little too much. I felt a lump in my throat when I looked at them. I avoided looking at the dusting of black hairs around his chest and lower belly. I was trying to keep in control, dammit.

“Are you still scared?” Berthold asked, coming closer. “You don’t look scared anymore. You look hungry. Do you need food?”

“I…um…” I tried to think of a response but he reached forward and placed two fingers on my neck under my jaw.

“Your heart is still pounding. Maybe you should lay down.” He suggested. Fuck. I wanted to lay down with him. His wings fluttered gently behind him as he heard a howl in the air.

“What?” I asked him.

“Nothing. Just letting me know they have made it into human territory.” He pushed on my chest. “Lay down and rest your heart, okay? If we mate now, your heart will beat way too hard and you might get hurt.”

“Mate? I’m not mating with you.” I told him. He cocked his head to the side.

“Why? You want to mate. You tried to mate me earlier, but you stopped yourself.” He looked a bit sad. “Am I no longer attractive to you?”

“You’re a dirty nymph!”

He pursed his lips. He gave a shove to my chest and I laid down, thinking he was just going to hit me. Instead, he climbed on top of me, straddling my confuse dick.

“What are you doing?” I hissed. He slowly moved his hips back and forth, rubbing on me. This was just cruel.

“I’m seeing if you really mean that of if you are being mean again.” He leaned his tall form down and placed his hands on my chest.

“Get off me you- _Nnnggghhh!_ ” I couldn’t help it as he rubbed himself harder down over me.

“I can feel you are starting to get hard. You should mate me.” He said like it was that fucking simple for me. I gripped his hips hard to stop him but he took it as a sign to get rougher and leaned down to kiss me. He was a sloppy kisser and I liked it. He pulled back and smiled at me, his face starting to flush.

Could I really take this guilty pleasure?

“Fuck it.” I whispered harshly and ran my hands up his sides. His skin was hot, and the muscles were taut beneath the surface. “Relax.”

I remembered my words from before, when I thought this was just a dream. _“I’ll take care of you.”_ I swallowed hard as I felt of his back and stomach softly, letting the hair there tickle my fingertips. I only got to be gentle in my sex dreams as my partners all took one look at me and thought I was a the perfect hunk of muscle for a night of rough rides. All my sex, whether I was top or bottom, was rough so far because that’s how my partners wanted it and I felt such a strong need to please them before pleasing myself. Maybe it was just the way I was, or maybe it was because I had to pleasure some men for survival in my past…either way, I actually wanted to be gentle, sensual, slow and passionate. I finally had a partner who was gentle and he’s a nymph, the one creature I had been taught all my life to hate.

“You’ll take care of me?” Berthold asked, trembling under my fingertips.

“Yes.” I moved my hands to touch his wings but stopped before I got there. I would only touch him there if I we were going to fuck. “You want me to fuck you?”

“I do.” His wings fluttered. “Do you want to mate me?”

“Yeah.” I said before finally stroking his wings. I pulled my hand back quickly at the gentle whimper he made. I looked at his face to find him looking away from me, and bright red.

“You okay? Does that hurt?” I asked, afraid I had already fucked up. I knew nothing about wings or pleasuring a nymph.

“It feels…A nymph’s wings are very…um, how do I say this?...My wings are sensitive, Reiner.” He whispered out my name.

A slow smirk pulled across my face. “Feels good?”

He blushed and nodded. I brought both my hands up and stroked his wings harder. His breath came a little quicker and he grabbed hold of the front of my shirt. I explored every inch of his wings that I could easily reach, sometimes stopping and stroking a specific feather with all the finger of one hand at once. That made him let out the sexiest little moans I had ever heard.

“Reiner!” He tilted his head back and rutted hard against the bulge in my pants.

“Berthold,” I groaned, pushing up against him. He pulled on my shirt harder.

“Can this come off?” He asked. I sat up and held him in my lap for a moment, kissing at his neck and chest. When he started pulling my shirt up, I reached back and pulled it off the back of my neck, throwing it on the forest floor. I pushed my chest eagerly against his and shivered at the feeling of his hot skin against mine. I looked up at him and saw how his pupils were already going wide for me.

“Lay down.” I said, pulling at the tie of his pants. “Take these off first.”

“O-Oh. Okay.” He stood up and I unbuttoned my own pants. I watched his blushing face as he slid his pants down his legs and then quickly laid down. I stood up and kicked off my own pants before I was on him. I leaned over him, kissing him once of the lips before moving down his neck. I was gentle with him, giving him little wet kisses and sucks over his throat.

“Reiner!” He pushed his hips up and his hard cock brushed against my stomach. I kissed down his chest and sucked on one of his nipples tenderly while trailing my fingers down his stomach. I felt the muscles tense before I reached his cock and it reminded me that he was virgin.

“I’ll take care of you.” I whispered against his wet nipple.

“I-I want you to touch me.” He said.

“I’ll do a whole lot more than that.” I thought about sucking him right now, but that might be moving too fast. I decided that it would be better to touch him first then see how that goes. I played with his hard nipple in my mouth, kiss the sensitive flesh while I softly wrapped my hand around him.

He inhaled very quickly and harshly when I moved my hand up his length, nothing how he made up for what he lacked in width with a long length. I waited for him to exhale just as roughly as he had inhaled, but he didn’t.

“Breath, Berthold.” I said, wondering if he was going to be okay during this.

“I didn’t expect it to feel so good.” He said after a few harsh breathes.

“Want me to show you something better?” I chuckled, kissing down his stomach.

“Yes!” He said.

I kissed up and down his length while he trembled.

“ _Reiner!_ ” He whined as I licked up and down him. I could already see his precum and knew he wouldn’t last long. I grabbed him and pressed him against my mouth, licking at his tip. He moaned and bucked up. I opened my mouth and allowed him to buck inside. I had a lot of experience sucking because of my past and I knew exactly how to make him cum. I deep throated him and sucked hard on the way up. He moaned and gripped my hair hard. I recognized the intense sounds of a man on edge and sucked him hard one last time while reaching a hand up to play with his balls. He made a sweet little choking noise when he came down my throat. I swallowed him all down, then released his cock.

He shuddered as he calmed down. I hovered over him, giving him delicate kisses and touching his sweaty forehead with mine.

“You can mate me now.” He panted, spreading his long legs wider.

“I can’t put my cock in you.” I whispered. He looked confused. “You can’t take me with no lube and it being your first time.”

“I thought-“

“You can fuck me, though.” I said quickly. “I’m experienced and though I prefer to top, I can bottom.”

“I – You want me to…?” He trailed off.

“I can ride you or you can take the lead.” I offered. I glanced down at his soft cock. “Whenever you’re ready is fine. It won’t take me no time at all to get ready.”

“It usually doesn’t take me that long when I’m, um, by myself.” He blushed.

“So you’re okay with fucking me?”

“I think I would like it best if-“He stopped.

“If?” I asked. I had this need to pleasure my partners to the absolute best of my abilities no matter my preference and that went double for this sweet man who was so gentle.

“If you got on me and, um-“he brought his hand in the air, held them close to my hips, and moved them up and down.

“Ride you? Okay.” I gave him a little kiss on the nose. He scrunched it up and gave me a cute laugh.

“That tickles.” He smiled. I kissed him lightly all over the face and ran a hand up and down his side, tickling him.

“Reiner! Quit that!” He wrapped his arms around me and distracted me by kissing me on the lips. He was so soft and sweet. I send him a silent thanks for being the first person to ever touch me gently. I wasn’t so good with words, so I sent it to him with my actions. I peppered kisses all around his neck and chest, paying special attention to the dip between his collarbones and his nipples.

“Still want me to quit?” I teased.

“N-no. Keep going.”

I played with him like this for several minutes, thinking about what face he would make as I sunk down on him.

“I-I want to do that to you.” He whispered hesitantly.

“Do what?” I asked. There were lots and lots of things I would let him do to me.

“I want to do what you did.” His fingers trembled against my shoulders. “To make me orgasm. I want to do that to you.”

“You want to…oh, you want to blow me?” I sat back from him.

“I want to put my mouth on you.” He looked down at my hard cock and licked his lips. “Will you teach me?”

“Yes,” my voice was breathy and my cock twitched at the thought of being in his mouth. I laid down beside him and he took a deep breath before rolling over on top of me. He kissed me a moment before looking down between our bodies.

“What do I do?” He asked, looking up at me again with big, innocent eyes.

“Whatever you want.” I paused. “Except biting. Don’t bite.”

“I won’t. That sounds like it would hurt you. I don’t want to hurt you.” He kissed my cheek once before moving down my body and I felt a rush of affection for him. When he was face level with my poor, throbbing cock, he eyed it carefully.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to.” I stroked his hair. He made a little noise in his throat before he leaned forward and planted a wet kiss on me. He reached one hand up and brought the tip to his mouth.

“Tell me if I do this wrong.” He whispered against my tip. I shivered as the heat from his breath came over my sensitive flesh.

“God, Berthold,” I started to tighten my grip in his hair, but stopped myself. I would be sweet with him.

He licked experimentally at my head a few times and got an up close view of my precum leak out. He smiled before he brought his thumb up and spread my precum all over my head.

“ _Nnnngghhh_ ,” I pushed my hips up and he chuckled. He started licking at me again and I couldn’t help but push up against his lips. He surprised me by opening his mouth and letting me slid in. He closed his lips around me and sucked on the tip. I groaned as I felt how hot he was and how insistent yet soft his tongue was.

He started to sink down and I couldn’t stop myself from thrusting shallowly into his mouth. He allowed me to thrust in.

“Teeth.” I grunted as he accidently scraped me. He pulled off of me and I whined but stopped myself from pushing his head down.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered. “I’m not good at-“

“You’re fucking amazing at sucking cock, Berthold.” I said. He wasn’t actually fantastic at pleasuring me with his mouth, but this was his first blow job and I wanted to encourage him. I didn’t want his first time giving a blowjob to leave him feeling like I had felt. No, no, no… I couldn’t think about that now. I would make his first time gentle and sweet and leave him feeling good.

He dove into sucking me in earnest now. He went down as far as he could and when I felt him gag, I pushed his head up.

“No, be gentle.” I whispered to him.

“I want to make you cum, though. I want to taste you like you tasted me.” He started to put his mouth back on me but I stopped him.

“I want to cum with you inside of me.” I whispered, feeling his erection against my thigh. “Sit back a second.”

He sat back, looking confused. I spread my legs wide and rested them on either side of him. I brought my hand up and got one of my thick fingers wet. I made sure he was watching me closely when I roughly pushed it inside of me. His eyes widened as I began to fuck myself, brushing my fingers up against my prostate to help the process go faster. I moaned and whimpered, bucking my hips up to fuck myself harder. Once I was easily sliding that finger in and out, I pulled it out completely and bent my knees.

“Give me your fingers.” I told him, hot swirls of arousal coming harder and harder in me as I thought about what was about to happen. He started to lower one hand to my hole, and I stopped him.

“In my mouth first. I’ve got to get them wet first.” I said. A look of understanding came over his face.

“I’ll do it.” He said as he brought one long, slender finger up to his mouth and sucked on it.

“Really wet.” I breathed. I quickly sized up his fingers. They were a lot thinner than mine. “Three of them.”

He added two more fingers into his mouth and he sucked on them. He pulled them away and I watched the line of saliva coming from his mouth to his slobbery finger break and run down his chin. He moved his fingers down to my hole and paused with them just brushing my entrance.

“Push them in. I can take it.” I assured him.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” He whispered.

“It won’t hurt me.” I lied. It would hurt a bit, but it wasn’t like I hadn’t taken much worse.

He gulped and then pushed against me. I relaxed and allowed my hole to be stretched open wide. The familiar burn set in and I kept the pain off my face for Berthold’s sake.

“It’s so warm.” He whispered, moving his fingers slowly in and out of me. “Tight, too.”

I reached down and stroked lazily at my cock. Berthold watched, sliding his fingers more easily now.

“Why don’t you lay down now?” I suggested. I was getting closer and closer to orgasm and I didn’t want to cum unless he was inside of me. He pulled his fingers out then laid down beside me. I paused while getting on top of him to put my mouth on his tip and got it sloppy wet.

“Ready?” I asked him as I straddled him. I grabbed his cock and lined it up with my entrance. He reached up and stroked my chest sweetly.

“Yes.” He whispered, and I sunk down. He gasped as soon as the tip was inside me and I smirked.

“Reiner!” He whined, his hands flying to my hips. I sunk down on him more and more, ignoring the slight pain. It would fade soon enough. He looked at me with wide eyes when I got fully seated on him.

I put my hands on either side of his chest and slowly began to ride him. His eyes fluttered closed and his mouth fell open while his head tipped back. I looked over his sweaty throat and saw his Adam’s apple bob deliciously when he swallowed before moaning. When he finally did open his eyes and look at me lustfully, his pupils were blown so wide I could barely see the forest green in them. I slipped up and down on him and felt a rush of pride at the way he looked so wrecked.

“Ah, ah, ahhhhh,” he breathed with every stroke. I went sweet and slow with him, taking him in long, loving strokes. The pain soon faded and was replaced with a need to cum. I moved a little faster and he dug his fingers into my hips.

“Fuck,” I groaned, letting my head fall back.

“R-Reiner! I’m gonna cum!” He whimpered. I felt a little rush of disappointment at how early he was going to cum in me, but I quickly wiped that away by remembering this was his first time. I brought my head back down and moved my hand down to my cock, figuring I would have to take care of it myself.

His eyes went down and saw what I was doing before he quickly let go of my hips with one hand and wrapped his hand over mine. He used his thumb to play with the tip and I moaned, letting go with my hand and letting him have control. He moved his hands, focusing on me as much as he could until his hands started shaking. He squeezed my cock a little too hard and I yelped. I grabbed his hand off of my offended cock and took the one off of my hips so I could hold his hands in mine until he came.

He gasped and jerked his hips up. He tensed for a moment and I made sure to watch his eyes as he came deep inside of me. He threw his head back and squeezed his eyes shut tight, screaming in pleasure. Little sparks of pain shot up my arm from him digging his nails into my hand. I ignored them, instead just waiting his orgasm out. He relaxed all at once, head lolling lazily to the side, and I let his hands slip out of mine. I pulled of him, feeling his hot cum start to slide out and rolled beside him. I quickly grabbed my cock and pumped it until I came all over my own stomach.

We laid there for a few moments just panting side by side before he reached out a shaky hand and curled it around my own. I don’t know if it was the feel of his cum dripping out of me or the feel of his soft fingers holding me, but what I had just done crashed into me all at once.

“Clothes? Where are they?” I asked him, snatching my hand out of his.

“They- They’re over in the bushes somewhere.” He sat up and looked at me. “You okay? You sound panicked? Did I hurt you-“

“I’m fine! I just… I need… I just gotta go.” I sat up and turned away from him, knowing that if I tried to stand up right now I would fall back on shaky legs.

“What’s wrong?” He breathed to me, wrapping his arms around me from behind and laying his head on my shoulder. “You can stay if you want.”

“I don’t want. That’s the problem. I- I can’t believe I just fucked a nymph.” I tensed as he held me against him.

“It’s okay to love a-“

“I don’t love you!” I said as I leaned my head back against his shoulder, a clear contradiction to my harsh words. “I just wanted to fuck you.”

“Is that true or is this you being mean again, Reiner?” He nuzzled me. “I think you like me.”

“I don’t.” God, he was trying me.

“You looked at me so lovingly when you were on top of me.” He kissed my cheek.

“Bye!” I barked, tearing out of his arms and jumping up. Too much too soon for me, because I stumbled back and fell down.

“Reiner! You okay?” Berthold asked me as he moved to hold me again.

“Fine!” I stood up slower this time, focusing on getting to the bushes and finding my clothes. I ignored the cum running down my leg as I searched for my clothes. I found his pants first. I thought about just taking those, but I figured the other hunters would notice and ask questions. I couldn’t risk anyone finding out about this. I quickly found my clothes near his and slide them on, ignoring the cum stains that would be there. I would have to scrub these clothes anyway.

“Don’t leave,” I heard him call gently to me. I stiffened.

“Shut up.” I snapped at him. I had to shake this off. I had to forget about this, move past it. It felt so good, right even, when I fucked him, but now it was time to return to reality. No more fantasy for me. I had a mission to accomplish. A scary thought came to my mind.

I could take Berthold to Erwin. I could throw him to Erwin’s mercy. Erwin wouldn’t give a fuck if Berthold was the exact same nymph as from before, so long as he got a pair of wings. Two hundred points. Two hundred. With him, I could have five hundred and twenty. I would be leaps ahead of Ymir, close to Mike, and halfway to Levi. I would be third hunter. Mike was slowing down and I was speeding up, so I could even become second hunter before the old guys retire. Second hunter. Then, when the old guys retire, I would be first hunter.

“First hunter,” I said to myself as I turned around to face him. He looked at me with those big, innocent green eyes and cocked his head.

“What did you say?” He asked.

“I asked if I could have my daggers back. I’ll be needing them later.” I smiled at him.

“Oh! Yeah!” He turned his head to the side.

“Bring me his daggers, please.” He spoke to an animal. I tried not to picture the snakes slithering all over me earlier. I shuddered involuntarily.

“Will you walk me to my horse? I don’t want the animals to attack me.” I asked him. I would get him out of the bounds of the forest, where he would no longer be under protection of the animals and then stab him. I wouldn’t kill him, just weaken him. Then I would present him to Erwin and become third hunter. Anything he told them about us fucking would be laughed off.

“Sure!” He said, handing me the daggers the snakes brought him. I smiled at him. Just like that, the trap slams closed.


	7. Bruises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erwin and Levi's relationship deteriorates more. Ymir and Levi's friendship grows stronger. Eren is a cutie pie who just wants Levi to feel good. Trigger warning for abuse/ emotional manipulation/ mentions of death

Levi POV

“So the autopsy was pretty straight forward. You sure you wanna know the results?” Hanje asked, pushing their glasses up.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to know.” I clenched my toes in my boot in my nervousness. If I wasn’t so insistent on not showing outward signs of nerves, I might bounce my leg or bite my lip. I had to lock my feelings down though. They were of no use to a hunter.

“Cause of death was a gun-shot wound to the head, but you already knew that. Approximate time of de-“

“Skip the medical shit. I don’t care about that. I know how she died and when she died because I killed her.” I crossed my arms and frowned at Hanje, who just leaned back in their office chair and gave me a sad look.

“Two months pregnant.” They said.

“That’s all I wanted to know.” I stood to leave.

“Levi, I still have things to discuss with you.” Hanje said, their voice not giving anything away.

“I have a lesson with Ymir in an hour, so I need to go look over the assignment board and get ready.” I turned and headed toward the doorway. I didn’t care if I was rude. I felt dirty and I needed to shower. I needed to scrub the sin from my body.

“It’s a about a cute boy.”

“I don’t give a shit.” I opened the door. Ever since Hanje found out I was gay, they had been trying to set me up with every cute boy they saw. They said my relationship with Erwin was toxic and that I needed a good boyfriend. Whatever the hell that meant.

“Eren.”

I slammed the door close and pressed my hands up against it, not turning around. “Who?”

“Eren. The nymph. You know who he is.”

“Ymir.” I gritted my teeth. I was honestly surprised that Ymir sold me out. I guess I had misjudged her, which didn’t happen often. I learned how to read people and their intentions really well in the underground. I whipped around and stalked up to their desk.

“What? What does Ymir have to do with Eren? He did mention her, which I thought was strange-“Hanje tilted their head and their eyes unfocused, remembering something from the past.

“You spoke to him? How? When? Did Ymir bring him in? That bitch! I’ll kill-“I growled until Hanje

“He came to me.” Hanje said calmly, almost lazily. They knew that remaining as calm as possible was the best way to deal with my outbursts.

“Explain. Now.”

“I was out looking for him. I used the spyglass to find him flying and then waved him down. He came to me willingly because he wanted to learn about humans as much as I wanted to learn about nymphs.” The corners of their mouth twitched. “You know, Levi…he was very interested in one particular human.”

“Erwin?” I asked. Erwin had shot him, after all.

“Nope.” They popped the ‘p’. “You.”

I sighed. “Hanje.”

“He’s cute, isn’t he? I even wrote down that he was cute.” They held up a blue notebook and I eyed it.

“You took notes?” I asked.

“Maybe~.” They sung out, teasing me.

“Can I see them?” I would rip it away from them if I had to, but thought I would be an adult and ask nicely first.

“I’ll make you a deal. Tell me how many times you’ve jacked off to the thought of Mr. Big Green Eyes and I’ll let you read all you want.”

“I haven’t counted.” I said, not caring if Hanje knew some details about my private time.

“You lost count? Hot damn. I knew he was just your type, but shit, Levi.” They whistled and tossed me the book. I sat down in the chair I had previously been in before I acknowledged what they had said.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that I don’t keep a fucking notebook and put a tally mark next to his name every time I jack off to him.” I flipped the notebook open, and was greeted with a crudely drawn penis with huge eyebrows draw near the tip. It was labeled “Erwin” at the top.

“God, damn it, Hanje.” I said, flipping to the next page.

“I thought you might want to see something familiar when you opened my notebook.“They laughed, clearly proud of themself.

“ _Shut up_.” I flipped through a bunch of random drawings and notes about shit I didn’t care about before I found a page labeled “Eren”. I read it quickly.

_Eren- he/him, healing nymph, a real cutie patootie, healed my headache and sunburn, really useful, really hot, Levi’s future mate_

“’ _Levi’s future mate’_? What’s that mean, shit heel? You already trying to marry me off to yet another guy?” I swore, Hanje threw men at me left and right. Sometimes I had fun with them and other times I tossed them to the side. They come and go, and Erwin stays. He is the only man I’ve slept with for this long.

“Oh no, babe. I didn’t pair you up. _You_ paired yourself up with that sweetie.” They gave me a pointed look.

“What are you talking about? I don’t want him!” I have been, am, and always will be a miserable monster who is only good for two things: fucking and killing. I’m not good for a sweet nymph who is literally my opposite: a virgin and a healer.

“You paired yourself with him when you gave him his first smooch.” They puckered their lips at me and made gross kissing sounds. “Levi and Eren, sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-“

“I will come over that desk.” I scowled at them. “I took pity on the kid and kissed him. Big deal. Its nothing to fight over. He’s a shit kisser, anyway. He slobbers and licks like a dog.”

“Like a dog, you say? Oh, man, I bet he’s just _an animal_ in bed.” They snickered.

“It doesn’t matter what he’s like in bed because neither you nor I will ever find out.” I wasn’t going to be with him, and Hanje had zero interest in sex.

“So if I told you he mentioned how he was in love with you and how he wanted your boney hard cock in him every night-“

“He didn’t say that. He doesn’t talk like that.” I tried to ignore the image in my head of how Eren would look face down ass up, wings and sweet little hole on full display.

“Just admit you want him.” They sat forward. “It’ll make you feel better.”

“You’re a piece of shit.” I shot at them.

“And you’re the paper that wipes it.” They shot back. “But fine, we’ll table this discussion for later, but don’t you think for a second that I’m letting this go.”

“Of course you won’t.” I looked through all their notes on nymphs. “These are his friends and family?”

“Yeah. Armin is his mate.” They commented. My eyes shot up to theirs.

“What?” I said a little too harshly.

“Just kidding! Just wanted to see what you would do!” They clapped their hands.

“I would slap you but I don’t feel like getting shit all over my hands.” I stood up. “Write me a copy of this, will ya?” I walked to the door.

“Sure, sure!” They called out as I stepped out the door. “Have fun with your new pup! Do it doggy style!”

“Fuck off.” I hissed as I shut the door. Movement beside the door had me in fight mode, pulling out my dagger and turning sharply toward the source.

“Levi.” Erwin narrowed his eyes. I came out of my fighting stance and tucked my dagger away.

“Erwin.” I said. I always knew he was a creepy fucker, but lurking outside of doors? How long had he been doing that and what exactly did he hear?

“Who’s your new pup?” He asked, putting a possessive hand on my shoulder.

“No one. Just some guy Hanje is trying to set me up with.” I wished I could shrug off his hand. His touch was making my skin crawl more and more lately.

“I’ll have a talk with them later.” He smiled at me, but the grip on my shoulder tightened. Was he threatening Hanje? Hell no.

“Don’t you dare hurt them.” I hissed.

“I’m just going to remind them that I don’t share. What’s mine is mine.” He brought his other hand up and squeezed my other shoulder.

“They don’t need a talk on that. They know that I’m in your bed.” I looked into his eyes, pushing down my instinct to fight, as I had done so many times before.

“Why don’t we get back together? We should be romantic and sexual.” He had this hard look in his eye that I didn’t like. I was on the verge of a ‘kill Erwin’ moment, as I called it. I had moments were I thought would kill him in his sleep if the rest of the survey corps wouldn’t come after me. I was a good fighter, yeah, but, hell, there is only so much I could do. Fight off the whole survey corps? I couldn’t do that.

“I told you, I’m not interested in romance.” I said.

“Are you like Hanje?” He asked, and it took a moment for what he was asking to click. Hanje was asexual and demiromantic.

“I don’t know.” I answered. “I just know I’m not interested in romance. At all.”

That was a lie. I was interested in romance with a certain brat that I couldn’t have.

“Then why don’t we just date anyway? If you don’t care about romance, then we could just do what we have always done, but call each other ‘boyfriend’. I would really like to call you that, Levi.” He said and what I heard was, ‘I don’t care what you identify as, I’m going to call you something that let’s everyone know you are mine’.

“Whatever makes you happy, Erwin.”

“Boyfriend.” He smiled, he stop squeezing my shoulders and stroked my face softly. “Call me that.”

“Okay.” I said, very uncomfortable with this.

“Say it, boyfriend.” He used the voice he uses when giving us orders.

“Whatever makes you happy, boyfriend.” I said, pushing my emotions down. He hummed in approval and leaned down to kiss me.

“Good boy. Say it again.”

“Boyfriend.” I said and he shook his head.

“The whole thing.” He commanded, and I felt my stomach roll. Sick fucker.

“Whatever makes you happy, boyfriend.” I looked down as he started kissing me again.

“Again.” He whispered against my lips.

“Whatever makes you happy, boyfriend.” I felt nauseous. Eren would never do this. Eren would never treat me like a possession and do whatever the fuck it was Erwin was doing to me. Hanje’s sad face flashed through my mind and heard their voice tell me Erwin was toxic again. Was this what they meant? He made me feel like I was going to puke. I always obeyed him, though, unless I was protecting Eren. He had his good moments, like when he helps me do first aid and says sweet things to me.

“Again.” He kissed all over my face.

“Whatever makes you-“ I started to say it again, my voice sounding more and more robotic with every time, but someone cleared their throat. I thought it might be Hanje come out of their room, but I was wrong.

“Hate to interrupt whatever the fuck this is, but Levi and I have a les- a hunt to go on.” Ymir quickly corrected herself. No one else knew about the lesson part of our hunts.

“We do.” I pulled away from him. “Thank you for reminding me, Ymir. That’s very responsible of you.”

“Whatever. I’m bored. Let’s go.” She looked over to Erwin. “Commander.”

“Third hunter.” He acknowledge her back. “You two have been hunting together a lot.” There was a note of suspicion in his voice I didn’t like. God, I hoped he didn’t think Ymir and I were sneaking around and fucking. He knew I was homosexual, but with his jealous tendencies, I wouldn’t put it past him to suspect her. I had to give him something without revealing everything.

“I’m teaching her how to improve her hunting skills.” I told him. Ymir looked at me and twisted her face up. I would explain why I told him to her later.

“Oh?” Erwin raised his eyebrow.

“You were the one who told me Mike was retiring soon. We need a strong second hunter to take his place.” I reached out and squeezed his hand. I knew how to work him if I needed to. “I’m sorry we don’t get to spend more time together because of my hunts with Ymir, but I’m thinking of the Survey Corps here. I’m trying to do what’s best for them, boyfriend.”

He melted, smiling and looking at me like he actually loved me. “That’s very good, Levi. We can spend more time together some other time. One more kiss before you head out, boyfriend.”

I let him kiss me deeply while ignoring Ymir. I figured she would be smirking, but when I pulled away and looked at her, she was looking at the ground with a frown. I guess she really didn’t like Erwin knowing I was teaching her.

“Work hard, Ymir. You will be second hunter soon enough. You’re strong and capable and have the best teacher you possible could have. Make me proud.” He nodded at her.

“Yes, sir!” She suddenly snapped up straight and gave him a perfect salute. I saw how she just lit up under his praise. She just wanted to prove herself. Just like young me.

“Come on, let’s go look at the assignment board.” I walked towards her.

“No, no, you two have assignment from me.” Erwin gave us a pointed look. “The nymph. Get him. Work on that for your lessons.”

Fuck you, Erwin. Fuck you.

“Yes, Er-boyfriend.” I quickly corrected myself. God, I hated the way that word tasted in my mouth. So bitter. So wrong.

I looked at Ymir. “Come on.”

We didn’t say anything until we were on horseback, going to the forest. The air was tense around us because I was angrily cursing Erwin in my head.

“Reiner wasn’t at dinner. That’s weird. You know where he is?” Ymir asked, breaking the tense silence.

“Ymir,” I gritted my teeth, “When the hell have I ever done anything in my whole life to give you the impression that I cared about where the fuck Reiner shit head Braun was?”

“Sorry. Geez.” She looked down.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you. It’s not good in my head right now.” I said after a moment.

“That was fucked up.” She whispered, her voice barely audible over the sounds of the horses. Normally, we would be moving quickly, but today we were wasting time by riding our horses at a slow gait. I wasn’t particularly ready to fake hunt Eren.

“I said sorry.” I grumbled.

“Not that. I don’t care about you being all pissy. I mean what Erwin did.” She sounded a little anxious. “I heard a bit of what went down between you two.”

“Oh? What exactly did you hear?” I pretended I wasn’t tense.

“I was walking down the hall and I heard him say ‘good boy’ so I paused and pressed up against the wall. I listened in. I’m a curious bitch.” She didn’t say anything else, so I spoke.

“Bitch is right.”

“I don’t always like what I hear.” She paused, looking toward me.

“I’m guess you shared that because you didn’t like what Erwin and I discussed? I don’t care how you felt because that was a private conversation, you sneaky shit.” I did have to admit that it was impressive that she was so good at eavesdropping. This was her second time doing it to me that I knew of. She called herself a ‘curious bitch’. I wondered how big of a past she had with this.

“That wasn’t a discussion, Levi. He talked to you so…so… fuck, I don’t know that word for it.” I could feel her eyes on me but I didn’t turn to look at her. “You sounded so dead inside, repeating those words over and over. I hated hearing you like that. You sound monotone most of the time, but you actually have such fight in your words. It’s like Erwin’s broken you somehow.”

I was quiet. I had heard all this before from Hanje, and I knew it was true myself. Erwin scared me and what’s worse is that he made me scared of myself. The way I let him make me feel…the things I let him do to me. I had moments where I questioned the way he treated me, but it wasn’t like he was hitting me or threatening me. He just acted a little possessive. Sometimes he did fucked up things, but I could always trace it back to some fuck up I had done.

“Fuck, sorry. I’ll shut my mouth.” She looked away. We rode in silence for a while. It was even tenser between us than before.

“He’s not that bad.” I commented. “He’s nice to me sometimes. He’s gentle with me on occasion. He doesn’t love me, but he does care for me.”

“’Sometimes’ and ‘on occasion’ aren’t words I would ever put with ‘care’. People who care for one another don’t care for each other only sometimes; they care all the time.” She said.

“Why do you care how he treats me?”

“Levi, I’ve been watching you two since I first became a hunter. I’m a curious bitch, remember? I like knowing things in case I need to blackmail someone. You should understand that. You were the one that called me a self-serving bitch. That’s true. Anyway, I started thinking what was between you two was fucked up when I noticed how he would order your ex-boyfriends away on assignments far away from where you were. Then, he started firing your ex-boyfriends-“

“They made mistakes.”

“Mistakes others got away with easily-“

“Mistakes, nonetheless, Erwin was within his authority as head hunter to fire them.”

“Is he ‘within his authority’ to scare off other men who try to get close to you? I’ve seen the way he glares at them when they even look at you. Is he ‘within his authority’ to control who you see? Is he ‘within his authority’ to treat you like his dog? You should hear the way he talks about you when you aren’t in the room. ‘My Levi’ this and ‘my Levi’ that. Petra once mentioned inviting you out for drinks with the rest of the top ten and he immediately said ‘No, my Levi doesn’t want that’-“

“ _Shut up_. You don’t even know what you’re talking about.” I finally looked at her.

“Does he hit you?” She asked.

“No. Why would you care if he did?” I turned back away from her. It was easier if I didn’t see the sad look in her eyes.

“You’re my teacher.” She said simply. “I need you.”

 _I need you._ My heart clenched. I knew it was only because she needed me to help her claw her way to number one, but fuck me if it didn’t make me feel even more attached to her. I quickly tried to push it away. I couldn’t be attached to someone who could die at any time during a hunt.

“Plus, you’re an alright guy. Straightforward, strong, honest…” She paused. “I don’t want to see you abused.”

“He’s not abusive.”

“What do you call all that possessiveness and emotional manipulation then?” She looked over to the sun. It was low in the sky, so I figured we would have three more hours of light at most. We liked to hunt at night when our prey sleeps.

“He’s just…protective.” I sighed. “I’m not discussing this with you. Why do you think you know so much about this, anyway?”

“You’d laugh if I told you.”

“Now I have to know.” I looked over at her.

“When I was a kid, I lived next to this woman who had, like, lots of textbooks. I used to break in and steal all the books my little gay hands could carry. I ended up with a lot of science books, some of them were psychology books. I read about abusive relationships and shit.” She flushed a bit and looked down.

“Why would I think that was funny?”

“People don’t think I’m smart. They don’t think I can read and know stuff.”

“I think you’re smart. You’ve managed not to get your ass kicked by me yet and I can’t stand ignorant people. That means you’re smart.”

“Gee, thanks.” She flipped me off, then got serious. “I was left alone a lot as a kid. No one really cared about me. I was in my house all alone from dawn til dusk every day. My parents would come home and go straight to bed. No talking to me or anything. I felt like I was invisible. I tried being really good, and that got me nothing. I tried breaking every rule in the house and that got me nothing, too. I got really bored doing nothing, so I read.”

There it was. The reason she needed validation and praise so much. The reason she needed to prove herself so much.

“You must have learned a lot.” I commented. “Mostly science?”

“Yeah. Biology was her thing. She had plants everywhere in pots and shit. I used to break a couple of them every time I came over to exchange out books.”

“You brought back the books you stole and got new ones?” I asked.

“Yeah. Like a library.”

She was a good kid. Misguided, sure, but still a good kid. She acted like she was made of steel and cared about no one other than herself, but she actually did like people a lot. She just bad at feelings, like me. She could have just stolen all of them, but she brought them back. She just wanted to learn. She probably would have borrowed them with permission if she could have, but was too scared and awkward to talk to the woman.

“I talked to Hanje.” I said, changing the topic as we arrived at the tree we used as a hitching post.

“About?”

“The woman. I had them perform an autopsy. Check out certain things…” I trailed off as I started hitching my horse.

“Like her uterus.” Ymir said, her voice full of anxiety.

“She wasn’t pregnant.” I told her, finishing my work and walking over to Ymir. I put one hand on her shoulder. “There wasn’t a baby involved.”

She let out a breath and gave a nervous laugh. “That’s a relief.”

I turned away from her and started walking fast toward the woods. I couldn’t look her in the eyes right now, knowing that I lied. I should have just told her the truth, but I didn’t want her hurt if she didn’t have to be hurt. She probably tossed and turned over this and I’ve given her peace of mind instead of regret.

“Are we really going to see Eren?” She asked, jogging up beside me.

“If he’s there, he’s there. If he’s not, he’s not.” I shrugged.

“Sure…” Ymir smiled slyly at me.

“There’s nothing going on between Eren and me.” I walked a little faster, reaching the tree line.

“You know…” Her voice suddenly sounded serious. “you never sounded dead inside when you talked to Eren.”

“Ymir.” I said, hoping my voice could convey the warning.

“Fine. Just…be careful around Erwin, okay? From what I’ve seen he’s getting worse and worse with you-“

“Drop it.”

“Fine.” She hummed. “Why are we doing this, anyway? We can’t bring Eren in, if he even is out here. Why don’t we hunt someone else from the board?”

“Because if we brought in another assignment, what would Erwin do?” I asked her.

“Accuse us of not obeying his orders?”

“More like accuse us of not even trying to obey his orders. We need to think of a plan.” I sighed.

“I’ve actually been thinking about something.” She said in a quiet, dangerous voice that was in sharp contrast to the calm forest around us.

“What would that be?”

“Me and you. We take Eren to the outskirts of the nymph territory and then trade him for another nymph and bring that one to Erwin.” She said. I stopped moving through the forest and spoke slowly to her.

“You want to take Eren hostage and trade him for another?”

“That’s what I said, yeah.” Ymir sounded guarded.

“He would fight.” I spun around. “He would fight for whoever we got. Not to mention all the nymphs around would fight, too.”

“We can take-“

“An ungodly amount of nymphs? You think we can take on his whole band?”

“Well,” she shifted from foot to foot. She looked up at me harshly. “It’s just an idea!”

We stared at each other for a few tense moments before an idea sparked in me.

“What if we just went into the outskirts and took a nymph without involving Eren?” I asked.

“We could do that?”

“Yes. You sneak better than anyone I have met before. I’m obviously capable of moving around undetected.”

“We could go from two sides. I’ll drive the nymph toward where you’re hiding and then you, like. Jump down from a tree and take them out.”

“They’ll fly away when you try to drive them to me.” I said, turning around and moving faster, feeling the excitement of planning a new hunt driving me.

“Then we have to take away their ability to fly first. We could shoot them,” she suggested, keeping up with me easily.

“In order to prevent them from flying we would have to basically shred their wings with bullets. So that’s off the table…Hmmm…”

“What is it, teacher?” Ymir looked at me excitedly.

“How about a net? Or an animal trap? You have experience with animal traps, yes?” I asked. I had heard that Ymir was excellent with hunting animals.

“Yes. I set traps for rabbits and small stuff like that. Not for something as big as a nymph.” Ymir shook her head.

“I’m going to need you to teach me what you know about traps. Is there something we could lay on the ground and disguise while waiting for a nymph to walk over it?” I asked her.

“You don’t have experience with trapping animals? I thought you could do it all.” She smirked.

“I’m not god.” I rolled my eyes. “I have experience hunting humans. Not rabbits. I think we can get a nymph, but you and I have to work together.”

She eyed me. “I get the points. All of them.”

“Like I give a fuck about that. I care about getting Erwin off Eren’s back.”

“Deal.” She was behind me slightly, but I heard the awful sound of her hacking up some slobber.

“Don’t you dare.”

“Shake on it.” She put a hand on my shoulder and I jerked away from it, worried it was her spit hand.

“I can’t believe you are offering me another slime covered bitch paw.” I stared at her in the dusky light. “We’re already in a deal. We don’t need to shake on it again.”

“This is a different deal. New deal, new shake,” she held her hand up to me and some spit dripped off of it.

“Put that thing away or I will cut it off.” I walked away from her. We were close to the place where Eren was hiding out. Or at least he was there the last time I saw him.

“Teacher.” Ymir whined. “Don’t be a bitch! That’s my job!”

“I will shake the other one, but only if you wash that disgusting thing off.”

“Oh, yeah! I’ll just wash my hands at this handy-dandy sink right here in the middle of the god damn forest!” She said sarcastically.

“There’s a river up ahead.” I sighed.

“ _Fine_. Ugh.” She bolted ahead of me. “Race you!”

“Bitch!” I called, speeding up. Races weren’t fair. She had such long legs. Even if I stretched my legs out as far as I could, I couldn’t match her stride for shit. On the other hand, I could maneuver around the forest easier with my smaller stature. She lost time and speed when she had to duck for trees and push limbs out of the way. In the end, I won. I darted ahead of her at the last moment when she narrowly avoided taking a tree limb to the face.

I put my hands on my knees and caught my breath before pointing at the river.

“Wash.”

“Fineeee,” she whined, and then kneeled next to the river.

“It would be so funny if we pushed her in right now,” someone breathed at my neck. I was on them in an instant, reacting exactly like I was trained. I pinned them to the ground and viciously held their throat before I realized that those shocked green eyes belonged to someone I knew wasn’t a threat.

“Don’t ever sneak up on a hunter like that.” I hissed at him while I let him go. He sputtered and sucked in breath.

“Now kiss and make up,” Ymir said and I shot a look at her.

“Wash.” I commanded her, rolling off of him and sitting beside him. He sat up beside me, his wings trembling a bit.

“Sorry.” He whispered to me. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Whatever.” I looked over at him. He was massaging his throat, but he looked okay. “You hurt?”

“I’m okay. Healing nymph, remember?” He smiled at me. He dropped his hand and I saw the red mark on his throat slowly turn back to his normal skin tone.

“Yeah.” I looked over to Ymir and saw her sitting on the bank, just watching us.

“You okay? I felt some bruises on your shoulders. I can heal them.” He offered. Fuck, Erwin had left bruises on me from early.

“Please.” I said. I didn’t like thinking about yet another mark on me from Erwin.

“I’m gonna have to touch you.” He blushed.

“Levi’s more than okay with that.” Ymir snickered.

 “Get over here if you’re such a curious bitch.” I shot back at her. Having someone close and watching when he touched me would make it less intimate. Less like we could be something.

“Like I need an invitation!” She crawled over here and sat across from us.

“Don’t call her that!” Eren growled, glaring at me. I blinked at him, not expecting him to care for Ymir, of all the fucking people.

“It’s a compliment.” Ymir laughed. “I’m not a bitch; I’m the bitch.”

“It’s not okay! Ymir isn’t bad! Be nice to her!” Eren frowned at me.

“Kid. Calm yourself.” Ymir waved a hand. “I’d be more offended if he called me a ‘classy young lady’. Really.”

“Really?” Eren looked her over for a second. “Okay then.”

“It’s fine, Eren. Heal Levi.” Ymir looked over at me. “Those are Erwin’s bruises, right?”

“It doesn’t matter.” I looked at Eren. “Do what you gotta do.”

“I need to touch you. Will you take your shirt off?” He asked me, batting those beautiful eyes at me.

“Fine.” I stripped off my jacket, cravat, and then started unbuttoning my shirt.

“That’s my cue to leave. I’ll guard the perimeter so no one disturbs your hot forest sex.” Ymir stood up. There goes my intimacy buffer.

“You don’t have to leave. He’s healing me, not sucking my cock.” I shot her a look.

“I want to leave, Levi. I don’t like seeing naked men. I get nothing out of it.”

“We’re not getting naked!” I barked at her, glancing over at Eren to find his face burning red behind his hands.

“Sure.” She turned away. “Have fun. Remember, whoever gets on top needs to wrap it up! Safety first, fellow gays!”

She reached into her pocket and threw a little silver packet at me that could only be one thing. I caught it and clenched it in my fist.

“Why does a lesbian have condoms, anyway?” I asked her.

“I grabbed them while we were getting ready for this hunt. Isn’t it you who taught me to look out for my partner? Well, I’m looking out for you.” She snickered, walking away.

I tucked the condom into my jacket pocket on the ground before turning to Eren. He was still hiding behind his hands.

“Hey,” I said gently, trying to forget that Ymir was probably watching us, “Ignore her. We aren’t having sex.”

He mumbled something into his palms.

“For fucks sakes, brat, if you want someone to hear you, you have to talk without your hands in your face.”

“Nothing!” He dropped his hands suddenly into his lap. “Lay down!”

“Lay down?” I brought my eyebrows together. Was he trying to give me images of him riding me?

“It’ll help me heal you.”

“Fine. Just hurry.” I shrugged out of my shirt and laid down. I watched his eyes as they moved up and down my exposed skin, pausing on my scars. I covered up one of my scars with my hand. It was faded scar from a stab wound, so silver it was almost not visible anymore, but it was still psychologically my worst scar. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see him look at my damaged skin.

“Wow, you have a lot of scars.” He commented, and I felt one of his fingers trace a scar. My brain automatically reminded me which one was right there. Burn scar from the underground.

“No shit.” I snapped at him. He pressed his whole hand over the scar and was quiet for a moment. I opened my eyes to see if he would acknowledge my snap. His face was screwed up in concentration.

“What are you-” I started to ask what he was doing, but was cut off by a pleasurable, tickling sensation all around my scar. I wiggled underneath him. “Stop that shit.” I was starting to enjoy the feeling and that was a slippery slope.

“I can’t- I can’t heal it.” He pulled his hand away and looked at me with disappointed eyes. “The scar tissue is too old. I can’t heal it.”

“It’s just a scar. You can’t do anything about it. Just heal these damn bruises.” I closed my eyes again, but opened them as he went to another scar. “Eren.”

“I just want to try-“

“No! These scars are reminders of my past and keep me grounded. They don’t let me forget the monster I am so I don’t have unrealistic fantasies.” Like my fantasy of just fucking being happy.

“You’re not a monster-“ He started.

“You don’t even know me.” I grabbed his hand and held it to my shoulder. I ignored how his warm flesh against mine gave me butterflies. I’m a gown ass adult who is a fucking killer monster. This brat is _not_ giving me butterflies.

“Levi. How can I help you?” He whispered.

“You asking me how to heal my bruises? Fuck, just use your nymph power shit-“

“How do I help you emotionally?” He bit his lips, his cheeks going red a bit.

“I’ll let you know when I figure it out.” I said to him. “Just heal the bruises.”

“Okay.” He paused. “I need to touch both of them at once.”

“Then do that.” God, was he asking me for permission or something?

He moved closer to me and started to swing one leg over me when I stopped him. “Whoa, there. Fucking do it from the other side! Don’t straddle me!”  My control was tested as it is.

He moved quickly off of me and kneeled behind my head. He reached forward and put his hands on my shoulders. “Relax.”

“I’m fucking relaxed.” I said.

“Relax more.” He rubbed circles into my shoulder. I relaxed a little more, still covering that one scar. Then, the tingles came. They started in my bruised flesh and moved outward, tingling around my whole shoulder before inching up my neck. He moved his hands to my neck and massaged lightly. The pleasure from his power came into me and my head lolled into his hand. Fuck. This feels good. I moaned lightly when his thumb brushed a sweet spot. His breath caught in his throat before he started rubbing at that spot over and over.

“Fuck,” I growled. I sat up and brought our lips together harshly. He whined low in his throat before tangling his hands in my hair. I kissed him hard, bringing a hand up to touch his wings. I had wanted to touch them since I had first met him. They were as fluffy and soft I could have imagined and so much more. He tensed for a moment, then he melted in my arms, moaning into my mouth. The sound went straight to my dick. Fuck. I had to stop this. I didn’t want to, though. I wanted to grab that condom and ram into his virgin ass.

“Levi,” He whimpered, pushing at my chest. “Mate with me.”

Shit. I pulled back, looking at his flushed face and hooded eyelids. I wanted him, but what I wanted wasn’t important. I shook my head. “No, Eren.”

“Levi,” He nuzzled his face into my neck and kissed the sensitive spot he had found with his thumb.

“Stop,” I pushed him away and this time I held him there. “I’m not fucking you.”

“Because of your mate? The one who shot me?” He was still breathing heavily and shaking a bit.

“Because this isn’t right. Look, I’m sorry I let it get this fucking far… I just wasn’t expecting your power to feel so fucking good.” I shook my head. “God, what _is_ that?”

“I…may have gone a little heavy with it.” He bit his lip and looked away.

“What does that mean?”

“I’m a healing nymph. I take away pain. I can push you to release endorphins. I may have pushed your body to, um, release a lot of them…” he looked away.

“You fucked with my body? You didn’t just heal me like I asked?”

“I just wanted to help you! I wanted to make you feel good! I thought if I made you feel good, you wouldn’t run away like last time!”

Last time I was here I had told him he would never see me again. Look at how well I followed through on that. I was so fucked when it came to him. Why can’t I just let him go?

“Eren. I don’t know what you want from me.” I told him honestly.

“What I want- what I need is for you to stop fighting me.” He started to come closer.

“What does that mean?” I needed more help than that. Come on, Eren, spell it out. I’m shit at romance.

“I want to mate.” He smiled at me. “Will you mate with me?”

“What,” I took a deep breath, before continuing, “would mating entail?”

“You would be with me. As my mate.” He raised an eyebrow. “What part of that is confusing?”

“You just want my dick? Or would it be something more?” I cursed myself for even considering it. It could never happen, no matter if its dick or more he’s after.

“Well, we would have sex, but also be mates.” He explained.

“For how long?” I asked. In my head I justified it as information gathering for shitty glasses, but my heart knew better.

“Until one of us dies. Nymphs mate for life.” He leaned closer.

“Fucking hell. I need to get out of here.” I scrambled to my feet. A whole lifetime of fucking Eren. I shook my head to clear it.

“Levi! I didn’t mean it like we had to kill each other or something!” He jumped up.

“I knew what you meant. I have to go.” I found my shirt and hastily buttoned it up.

“YMIR!” I screamed. She would be close by if she wasn’t watching.

“Levi, when will I see you again?” Eren asked as I put on my jacket.

“Please, just go home, Eren.” I looked at him, begging. “I’ll give you a horse if you need it. Just go.” I could ride with Ymir back and say we lost a horse.

“I can’t fly all the way there yet, and I’m not taking a horse.” He shook his head. “I’ll be here another couple days. I want to see you once more before I leave.”

“No.” I said as Ymir walked casually into sight.

“I’m not leaving until I get to see you again.” He huffed.

“We can’t be together. Just go. No sense in us seeing each other again.” I walked past Ymir and we started through the forest.

“I’m not giving up.” I heard him call to me before I broke out in a run. I pushed myself as hard as I could, trying to run away from my thoughts. We made it out of the quickly darkening forest in record time. We had to spend a couple minutes catching our breath before Ymir spoke.

“Just fuck him already.”

“Did you listen in?” I wiped the sweat off of my forehead.

“Actually, this time I did not. I looked around the perimeter. There is a bunch more wolves in the area than usual. Weird, if you ask me.”

“God, let’s just go home. I need to shower.”

We got lots of stares when we got back so quickly. Most of the time we didn’t return until much later, but I couldn’t even fake hunt right now. Ymir and I quickly went our separate ways and I knew that my lie about the baby would help her sleep tonight. I went quickly to my room and opened the door only to find Erwin inside. He was calmly laying in my bed in pajamas and reading a book.

“What the fuck?” I asked him as I stepped inside.

“Oh, you’re back early.” He smiled. “Since we are boyfriends again, we ought to sleep together, don’t you think? You can move in with me or I’ll move in here.”

“I-You- Fucking-,” I did not have the energy to fight this right now. “Whatever.”

“Good boy.” He looked me up and down and then frowned at my stomach. “Levi? Your shirt is buttoned wrong?”

“Oh.” I looked down and saw that I missed a button right at my belly button. “Damn thing. I was about to shower anyway.” I pulled off my cravat and laid it on my dresser along with my jack and shirt. I hoped he would drop this.

“Why did you take your shirt off?” He asked.

“I was demonstrating to Ymir how in a pinch you can use it to bandage a wound.” The lie came easily off of my tongue, like so many other had in the past and will, no doubt, in the future.

“Very good.” He nodded. “That’s a good skill to have.”

“I’m gonna shower.” I said to him, grabbed one of my towels and throwing it over my shoulder along with my pajama pants. “You going to sleep or are you going to stay up?”

“Why? Do you not want to have sex with me?” He looked hurt.

“It’s not that. I just needed to know if I would disturb you getting into bed.” I lied again. He relaxed.

“It’ll be fine, boyfriend. Go clean up.”

I hummed in response. There was a strange feeling that I was forgetting something nagging at me. I ran through my lies one more time. I would teach Ymir the bandage thing first thing in the morning in case Erwin decided to test her on it. Other than that, I couldn’t figure out what I was forgetting.

I took longer in the shower this time. I was thankful that for once, there wasn’t any blood washing down the drain. I sighed and let the hot water relax away my tension. I started to think about Eren, about the way his power made me feel. I wonder what else he could do to get my endorphins going. I considered masturbating, but then remembered Erwin waiting for me. He would want to bang me and I should save my Eren material to get me through that.

I shut off the shower and walked back to my room after drying off and dressing. I was still working the towel through my hair when I opened the door. Erwin was sitting at the edge of the bed, turning something over and over in his hands. I didn’t really care what it was so I turned to put my towel with my other clothes that needed to be washed in the morning.

“So how did the hunt go?” He asked, and I heard the dangerous undertone in his voice. I froze with my back turned toward him.

“Fine.”

“You’re back really early.”

“Didn’t find shit but a lot of wolves.” I said, slowly turning around.

“A lot of wolves, hmm? You didn’t find anything else?” He said, holding up what I had been forgetting in his hand. “Maybe a bush that grows condoms?”

The world just hates me.

“Fuck.”


	8. Mate (Reibert 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> warnings for mentions of past survival sex warning for smut and the word f*ggot and uh...i think thats it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so in order to keep myself from relapsing, I wrote. Like ‘got to keep myself occupied or I will end up in my old life and die’ writing frenzy. I have updates to all my stories and I wrote out some new stuff yea! I might not post it all at once but eh here we go- this writing is part of the frenzy so i might rewrite it later when my head is on straight

Reiner POV

He was making this so damn hard. My future was right in front of me and this beautiful nymph was making it so damn hard for me to reach out and take it. Years and years of effort. Years and years of sacrifice. Years and years of pain. I could make it all worth it right now. I could sink this dagger into Berthold and take him to Erwin. I could. I could. I could.

But I won’t. I had the physical strength to take what lied before me, but I lacked the emotional strength to do it. I had…weird tingly feelings in my stomach when I looked at his happy face as he talked to my horse. Fuck. I fucked up. I fucked up when I fucked him. I actually felt this…weird fucking attachment to him. I wanted to touch him.

“He says his name is Cobalt.” Berthold smiled to me as I walked up beside him.

“That’s right.” I stroked Cobalt along with Berthold, letting our hands get close.

“Isn’t that a blue color?” Berthold chuckled. “He’s black! Well, he has some white markings on his face. Those are so pretty.” Cobalt made a small, happy noise, and I knew he had heard that.

“Does it mean blue? I thought it mean black.” I looked away from him. I was just big, dumb Reiner after all.

“Hey,” Berthold reached out and stroked my face a soft as his touch on Cobalt. “Cobalt is a perfectly good name.”

“I’m fine.” I whispered. How did he know I felt bad? 

“You know. I’m very good at reading animals. I can fell the distress on you.” He moved even closer, leaning down and peppering kisses on my forehead. “Talk to me. Your troubles are my troubles now.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“Reiner,” he chuckled, “we’re mates. We take care of each other.”

God, my heart broke in two. “What do you mean mates?”

“We mated.” He tilted his head. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”

“I remember fucking you.” God, why was this confusing to me?

“Reiner…you don’t understand nymph mating, do you?” He looked worried.

“Why would I?” I felt uneasy at his worried expression and looked over the night around us. We seemed to be safe.

“Oh no. I should have made sure you understood before we mated. Reiner, when you take a nymph’s virginity, you become mates with them. You’re my mate. I’m your mate. We’re mated for life.”

“What are you talking about?” I stepped out from his touch. “Berthold, I need to go. I need to get back to the hunters.”

“Don’t leave.” He said gently, his face falling. “Please, mate, you can’t leave me.”

“What the fuck am I supposed to do, then? Go live with you in your fucking nymph family?” I bristled thinking about it. Me, a hunter, trying to live amongst nymphs. The concept was almost laughable.

“Yes. You can come live with me in my tree. Oh! I’ll ask Marco to make you a ladder so you can get up, since you can’t fly and all.”

“You’re unbelievable.” I stepped back from him further. “I’m not your boyfriend or mate or whatever the fuck.”

“Yes.” He insisted. “You are.”

“Look, Berthold, trust me when I say that you’re getting off good. You don’t want me. Not only am I supposed to kill your family, but I’m just fucked up. Just plain ole fucked the hell up.” I looked away from his sweet green eyes.

“Your troubles are my troubles now.” He step forward, bringing me into his arms and nuzzling my neck. I struggled with myself, my head and heart at war. “Your pains are my pains now. Your burdens and obligations and duties…I will help any way I can because they are mine now, too.”

“You can’t help me.” I whispered, yet I tilted my neck back to let him have better access.

“Your joys are my joys now. Your happiness is my happiness now.” He kissed my neck and I gulped as arousal started curling in me. “Your pleasure is my pleasure now.” I had lube in my person bag on the horse… I wonder if he would let me…

“I can’t love a monster.” I gulped. It hurt that he wanted me. If I could drive him to push me away, then we could separate and it wouldn’t hurt.

“You’re being mean again.” He held me close. “Are all humans mean like this?”

“Only when dealing with monsters,” I bit my tongue to hold back a moan as he sucked on my pulse point.

“Why are you so afraid to let yourself love me?” He whispered against my flesh.

“Because it’s wrong.” I felt my heart tug to him.

“Isn’t that what your dad said about being gay?” His words held no harsh tone, just sweet understanding.

“Just shut up. I have to go.”

“You can’t leave. You can’t just leave your mate!” He squeezed me tighter and his scent tickled at my nose. He smelled just like the forest after a rain, mixed with the musk of our fucking earlier.

“I’m leaving and you’ll be better off-“

“I want you to stay!” He held me tight against his body. “We can work through this, Reiner. _Please.”_

I had never heard those words before. _I want you to stay._ From the very beginning with my dad kicking me out, I’ve always been tossed away. The men I had to please so I didn’t starve to death or freeze to death would see that I was gone as soon as possible. Even once I got a job with the hunters, I felt like I was constantly being told to leave. “ _Go work_.” The other hunters would say. Big, dumb Reiner, only good for fucking and killing.

“You want me to stay?” I asked gently. “I-I might be able to stay with you tonight. Just tonight. Not in nymph land or wherever the fuck it is you live, either.”

“In a tree.” He mumbled. “We live in trees.”

“That’s weird.” I paused. “I have a blanket in my bag for covering up bodies. We can spread that out and sleep here tonight. You can keep the animals from, like, eating us right?”

“Yes. I can have them also bring food for us and Cobalt.” He pulled away from me and smiled at me like I had just given him the world.

“We’ll talk shit through in the morning, I guess.” I was so fucked.

“Yeah. I’ll keep us warm with my wings.” He spread them out in front of me and I admired them in the moonlight.

“I’ll get the blanket.” I pulled it out of my bag, eyeing the front pocket where I kept my personal items. There was some lube, some condoms, my personal pocket knife, a backup pocket watch, and a backup compass. I spread it out on the soft grass before taking my belts off, daggers included, and laying down. I looked up at Berthold, patting the place beside of me. He smiled as he got situated. He laid on his stomach, and I laid on my back beside of him. He stretched his soft wing over me like a blanket, and I had to admit it was pretty warm. He scooted closer and closer to me until he was pressed up against me.

“You can put your arm over me.” I relented. He wrapped his arm over me and we started nuzzling more and more. I didn’t even try to go to sleep; I just let my hands start wondering over his body. He shifted so he was straddling me. I felt stroked his soft, light chest hair before moving my hands a bit. He shuddered against me as I started playing with his nipple. He moaned gently to me.

“Reiner,” He whispered. “Will you mate with me again?”

“Would you like to be on bottom now?” I remembered the lube and condoms in my bag.

“To take you in me like you took me in you?” He slowly starting grinding his hips down on me. “I would like that very much.”

“There is some things in my bag that I need, then.” I looked up at him, feeling myself begin to get shaky. I was so fucked up inside. I was about to fuck this nymph again. Fuck me. I was seriously at war with myself. On one hand, this beautiful nymph. On the other hand, my whole entire life.

“Okay.” He leaned down and gave me a few pecks before rolling off of me and onto the blanket. God, he looked so good in the moonlight. I stood up, unbuttoning my shirt as I walked over to Cobalt. I quickly found the lube and condoms and threw them onto the blanket as I stood on the edge of it, stripping out of my stained pants and wincing at the way the dried the cum stuck to my skin a bit. God, I was a mess. I was a mess for this nymph.

“What’s this?” He asked, turning the condom over and over in his hands.

“Condom. It’s for protection and easy clean up.” I kneeled down on the blanket and grabbed the lube. “This is lube. It’s very important for what I’m doing to you today.”

“I understand that. The earth nymphs made a plant that is very similar to the aloe plant. You break off a piece and inside is a very good lubricant. There is one in every gay nymph’s home.” He nodded to it. “I’ve got one, though I’ve only ever used it by myself.”

“How?” I asked, setting the lube down and reaching for Berthold’s pants.

“How what?” He lifted his hips and allowed me to take off the pants.

“How did you use it by yourself?”

“Oh. Well, I already told you that there aren’t a lot of single, gay nymphs -“ He started.

“No, how did you touch yourself? Did you ever finger yourself or did you just jack off?” I pushed his chest so he would lay down for me and admired all the long limbs and tan skin in front of me.

“Did I ever put my fingers in myself?” He bit his lip as I spread his legs, admiring his already hard cock. He was a such a sweet, near innocent thing. So excited by everything and anything. I hadn’t even really touched him, yet. He would be wrecked by the time I got done playing with his prostate. I wondered how many times I could milk him?

“Yeah.” I grabbed the lube, eager to get my fingers in him.

“I’ve tried a couple times, but I didn’t like it.” He said. I looked up at him, pausing in my uncapping the lube.

“Didn’t like it? Berthold, you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to do anything. We can just-“

“No! I want you to be inside me! I just didn’t like it because it hurt. I think I did it wrong.” He propped himself up on his arms and looked at me. “I trust you. You’re my mate. You’ll do it right and you won’t hurt me.”

I swallowed hard, looking down at the space of blanket between his legs. _I want you to stay. I trust you. You won’t hurt me._ He always said the shit that cut through me and went right to my heart. My stomach felt queasy a bit as I pushed down the emotions that rose up in me. My whole life I had been taught that nymphs were animals to be hunted, monsters to be caught…but this beautiful, sweet man….he was no monster.

“Hey.” He whispered, sitting up and coming to the edge of the blanket. He took the lube from my hand and recapped it, sitting it down. I clenched my jaw as I felt him crawl into my lap, our naked bodies touching in an intimate way. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I’m so fucked up.” I whispered into his neck. “Why do you want me?”

“Because you’re my mate.” He said simply. I wrapped my arms around him, ignoring the shaking in them.

“Why did you become my mate?”

“Because I wanted you as my mate.”

“Fuck, Berthold, just tell me what you see in me!” I could hold back my emotions for much longer. I felt as though I was back at the crossroads. One path was Berthold, and the other was my old life. I had to pick. I couldn’t have both.

“I see a wounded animal.” He whispered after a few tense moments. “You need love and care and I will give it to you. I will mate with you and love you. I will take you to the river and wash you. Once you are clean, we will make love in the sun on the river bank until you are dry. Then I will see if your hair does actually feel like a baby chick’s fluff. I will make for you my favorite foods and make sure you are fed well. I will tend to all your wounds and when you are sick-“

“Stop.” My voice broke. I squeezed him, holding our bodies tight together.

“I will, though. I promise. It is the vow of a mate. And you will do the same for me.” He held me back.

“I’m so confused.” I wanted what he was offering, but I – I just couldn’t take it.

“Then let me help you.” He kissed the top of my head. “I love you, mate.”

“Berthold.” I felt like I was breaking. Memories flashed through my head. People were awful. People said one thing and did another. “ _I’ll always love you, son”_ became “ _Get out of my house, faggot.” “You don’t want to freeze to death, do you? Come inside, I want nothing in return, I’m just doing a good deed”_ became “ _Good boy, I love how tight this little virgin ass is. Oh, don’t cry. You knew this would happen when you came in.” “How much? That little? Oh, there’s more? Food and a place to stay for the night? Sure, sure”_ became “ _Get out. My wife’s on her way home and I don’t want her knowing. Don’t give me shit, you’re lucky you got what you did.”_

“Let me help, Reiner.” He cooed to me. “Let me love you and let yourself love me. Just let go.”

“I-I can’t”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll fucking abandon me.” I snapped at him, my head coming back and looking up into his eyes. He cocked his head.

“Nymphs mate for life. I cannot abandon you.”

Oh, how I wanted to believe that. I looked into his kind forest green eyes and broke. I would believe him, if only for tonight.

“Berthold.” I growled, laying him down quickly.

“Reiner!” He smiled, spreading his legs wide for me, bending his knees and pulling them up to his chest. I looked at his little hole on display for me and quickly lubed up my fingers. I would make sure he was taken care of right.

“If you want me to stop, tell me.” I pressed all around his hole, getting it nice a slick for me.

“I will.” He breathed. I pressed one finger against him, and felt him tense up immediately.

“You gotta relax.” I massaged the tight ring of muscle.

“I’m trying.”

“Just breathe and relax. Forget about how you didn’t like this before and let me do it right.” I heard him took a deep breath and on the exhale, I pushed one fingertip in. He yelped and clamped down hard on my finger.

“Did you even find your prostate when you did this yourself?”

“No.” He admitted.

“Oh, boy. I’m gonna have fun with you.” I tried to push in more, but he was too tense. “You gotta relax before any of that happens, though.”

“Sorry.” He whispered, taking another deep breath.

“Hush, Berthold. You’re fine. I’m here. We’ll get through this. Even if you don’t bottom tonight, we can still have sex. I’ll bottom again.”

“I want to, though!” He took another deep breath and I felt him relax. I pushed my first finger in him as quickly as I could before he tensed up again.

“It might hurt a bit. Just try to relax.” I started moving my finger in and out.

“It hurts, but I also like it.” He sighed, and quickly started relaxing. It wasn’t long before I held a second finger up to him and slowly pushed in.

“Geez! That burns!” He hissed. I leaned forward and kissed on his thighs.

“I know, but I’ll make it worth it.” I started using my fingers to stroke along his hot, silky insides. It took me a moment, but I found his prostate.

“Fuck!” he screamed, and I looked up at him wide eyed. I’ve never heard him say that word. I loved it. I pressed harder on his prostate, and his mouth fell open, making the sweetest noises for me. His hands were holding his legs apart, so I reached up and started stroking his erection. I spread his precum all around on his head, enjoying the trembles that ran through him.

“Ah! Re-Reiner! Ahhh!” He rolled his head back and forth, his cries of pleasure getting louder. “Reiner! Please!”

“Sweet boy.” I cooed to him. “Cum for me.” I knew he wouldn’t last long. He wasn’t used to this pleasure. I would have to fix that. If I stayed with him, I would make sure he came all the time. I would spoil him with orgasm after orgasm.

“Re-Reiner! I-I’m going to- I- I – _Ahhhhhhhhh!_ ” I pulled my hand away before his hot spurts of cum could get on my hand. He squeezed my fingers hard as he came all over his stomach. He panted and trembled as he let his legs go. They fell to either side of me and I smiled at the sheen of sweat on them. It might be gross, but I loved sweat.

I wiped my finger off on the blanket and reached around for the condom and ripped it open with my teeth. I quickly rolled it on and leaned over Berthold, kissing him on his panting lips.

“Can I fuck you now?” I whispered to him, and he wrapped his arms around me.

“Please.” He whispered back. I pulled back, grabbing his calf and putting it on my shoulder. I repeated the action with the other, leaning forward on him again. I lined myself up with his entrance after teasing his relaxed hole for a moment. I put my hands on either side of his hips, which was lower than I usually placed my hands, but I didn’t want to support my weight on his wings because I wasn’t sure they could handle it.

“This might hurt a bit.” I said, pushing into him.

“Ah!” He tightened around me for a second before relaxing. “You’re too big!”

“I promise you I’m not.” I pushed harder into him, making my way into his tight heat. “Relax.”

“Reiner!” He whimpered, his eyes squeezing shut. His nails dug into my arms where he was gripping me. I glanced down at his soft cock and started slowly moving in and out, on a mission to make him cum while I was inside him. He gave soft little mewling noises for me as I started gently fucking him. I gulped down the urge to pound into him. I could last a long time if I wanted to, if I needed to, and I wouldn’t rush his pleasure.

“Mmmmmppphhhh!” He pushed his head back, exposing his tan neck and Adam’s apple to me.

“God, you’re so beautiful.” I said to him as I picked up the pace just a little. He felt so good. So impossibly good. He moaned for me and I felt the sound all the way up my spine.

“Does it hurt anymore?” I asked him breathlessly.

“N-no.” He pushed his head back further, arching up a bit. “Harder!”

“Fuck.” I felt my sweat start to roll down my body as I fucked him harder.

“Harder!” He was screaming now, and I looked down to see his cum dripping off of his stomach and his cock starting to harden again.

“Berthold!” I growled, running my eyes up and down from his cock bouncing to his flushed cheeks. I fucked him harder and harder until he finally cried out.

“Right there!” He brought his head back down and I looked at his hooded eyes. So sweet. “Just like that!”

My orgasm started to curl in my belly, heavy and hot. He was so hot and so tight. I dropped my head forward and groaned. I would not cum until he did again.

“Berthold,” I panted. “Touch yourself.”

I watched him wrap his large tan hand around his cock and start moving it up and down for me.

“Ah! Reiner! Mate! I can’t take it! Please! Please!” His hand got harder and I saw the precum glistening on his cock. I picked up the pace just a bit, pushing forward a little more to change our angle. I hit him deeper now. I let my eyes flutter closed and the sound of our fucking washed over me. I loved his heavy breathing, the sound of skin slapping on skin, and the squelching noises his slick hole was making. I loved the sound of him cumming even more, though.

“I-I-God! Mate! Mate! Please, cum in me! Please, fill me up! Re-Reiner!” He screamed, his head coming back and the sweaty expanse of his delicious neck coming into view. “ _Fuck! Mate! Fuck!”_

I growled, my mind feeling fuzzy with the sound of the curses leaving Berthold’s sweet, red lips. I watched his hand pause on his cock and his body tensed all at once as cum shot on his already covered stomach. I plowed him right through his orgasm, watching his face in his moments of pleasure. He went limp against me. Now that I could cum, I wanted to. I focused on making myself cum, forcing the fire to spread through my belly.

“ _Hhhhnnnnnnnngggg!_ ” I leaned over him hard, digging my finger into the blanket.

“Cum in me, mate.” Berthold whispered tenderly. I grunted loudly as I came, stilling above him as my mind went blank for a few seconds. Pleasure surrounded me as I came into the condom, and faded quickly as I pulled out.

Berthold watched me curiously as I pulled the condom off, tied it off, and threw it somewhere into the night before collapsing on the blanket next to him.

“That thing had your cum in it?” He asked.

“Yeah.” I grunted. I needed just a little while before I tried to start round two.

“Why couldn’t I have it?” He sounded a little upset and I rolled my head over to look at him.

“What?”

“It’s supposed to go inside me, mate.” He reached out his long arm and threaded our finger together. “Promise me you’ll put it inside me.”

“Yeah.” I closed my eyes. “Just give me a minute. I’ll lick that cum off of you and then we can go again.”

“Lick it off?!?” He sounded surprised.

“’It’s supposed to go inside of me, mate.’” I quoted him. “I like your taste, anyway.”

“Reiner!” he giggled happily. “You just called me ‘mate’! I knew you liked me!”

“Fuck.” I whispered. “It was just what you said. I was jok-You know what? Fuck it. Yeah. I kinda like you.” I rolled over.

“I knew it.” He squeezed my hand. “Mate.”

“Mate.” I squeezed him back. Maybe this could be worth giving up the life I used to know. Maybe he could be my new future.


	9. Soldier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i just like to shove plot down anyone's throat who will listen
> 
> UPDATE : I HAVE BEEN IN A VERY SERIOUS CAR WRECK. IT WILL TAKE ME A LITTLE WHILE TO GET BETTER. PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH ME. Thank you

Levi POV

 

“I’ll just wait for you to explain.” Erwin said tensely.

 

“Ymir gave them to me.” I racked my brain for more. “As a ‘good luck’ gift since you and I got back together.”

 

“Oh.” Erwin’s face changed dramatically. “That was nice of her.”

 

“It was.” My hand drifted across my stomach to cover up my stab scar. It was my weakest point, my worst memory.

 

Erwin placed the condom on the nightstand then stretched out on the bed and relaxed. That was a good sign. I let my hand drop from my scar.

 

“You and Ymir got back awfully early today, didn’t you?” Well, maybe that wasn’t a good sign after all. “Hunting didn’t go very well? Was it you or Ymir messing up? Ymir probably. She’s good, but she isn’t you. Or was the nymph just untrackable tonight?”

 

“The wolves, mostly. There was so many of them that we just turned back. I don’t trust a night when the wolves are acting up. Nothing good ever happens on a night like that.” I walked over to my side of the bed. “Besides, it’s been so long since anyone last saw him. He might be long gone by now.”

 

“That’s unacceptable. I need its wings.” Erwin hummed as I got into bed. “Well, maybe not its specifically.”

 

“Oh?” This was surprising, and completely uncharacteristic of Erwin. I didn’t lay down like he was. I couldn’t relax just yet.

 

“Its wings are brown and dull. They just don’t compare to the others on the wall. I need a set of beautiful wings. I want wings that will compare to my father’s wings. You remember them, don’t you, Levi? So very blue and almost iridescent. I must have wings ever grander than that.”

 

“How? Er-The nymph is the only one to fly out here in so long. What are the odds of-”

 

“Do not speak to me of odds, Levi. I will make it happen or die trying.” His voice deepened into his commanding voice and I knew he had already made up his mind. But how? How would he find the most beautiful pair of wings if the nymphs never came to us? He would have to examine each and every nymph and that can’t possibly happen. Unless he isn’t planning on waiting for the nymphs to come to us.

 

“Do you mean…?” I trailed off, knowing he would understand.

“A war. Yes.” He reached out and stroked my hair with his hand. “First Soldier.”

 

Eren POV

 

I meant what I said about not giving up on Levi, but I was getting homesick and bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. I had already explored all over my little patch of forest. I spent my time finding food and looking for hurt animals to heal. I missed my sister. I missed Armin. Hell, I was even starting to miss fighting with Jean.

 

My wings were all healed now. I could fly home if needed… or wanted. I had gone over the possibility a milion times in my head and it never worked out. There wasn’t a way to keep in contact with or mate with Levi when basically the whole band would be watching me. Mikasa and Armin for sure wouldn’t allow me out of their sight.

 

I had fantasies where Levi came back to me and we mated in the moonlight by the river before returning to my band. My band would welcome Levi with open arms and Mikasa would make us a house. Levi and I would mate every night and live happily ever after. It was a nothing more than a fantasy.

 

In reality I would most likely fly in alone. Mikasa would wrap her arms around me and cry, vowing to never let me go out alone again. Armin would be next, asking me all sorts of questions about my adventure. Jean would snarl and say something shitty. Marco would apologize for him and say something kind to me. I would be taken to an elder healing nymph to be checked on. I would be asked to repeat the story a million times and chastised for flying into human territory. Worst of all, I would have to give up on Levi.

 

“UGH!” I shouted into the night. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Why couldn’t we all just get along without killing each other?

 

I opened my mouth to shout out my frustration once more when I was interrupted by a chorus of howls. What the hell was up with the wolves lately? Most of the time they wander around alone. The only time they got together like this was when a beast nymph asked them for help to find something lost.

 

“Shit!” I muttered underneath my breath. Of course the beast nymphs would send wolves after me! It wasn’t like the nymphs themselves could come into human territory. Why hadn’t I realized this earlier?

 

Because you were too distracted masterbating to the thought of Levi. My mind supplied the answer for me.

 

I took off into the air without even thinking about it. The wolves would only be able to track me on the ground and I didn't want that. As I soared over the trees, a part of me realized that I was betraying my band. I was turning my back to my homeland and flying toward this unknown future with Levi. I had to at least try. If I just gave up, I would spend the rest of my life with so many “what if’s”. I would hate myself if I didn’t at least try.

 

I flew toward the human lands as fast as I could, heading to the one person that I knew would help me no matter what was going on. A human that wanted to be around me just as much as I wanted to be around them.

 

Hanje POV

 

Shit had always been so boring before Eren got here. Every day it was ‘Hanje, do this’ and ‘Hanje, do that’ and never ‘Hanje, what would you like to do?’. Well, I would like to devote myself solely to nymph research, but that’s never going to happen so long as Erwin is in charge. Right now I spent most of my time either helping Erwin strategize in his new war against the nymphs.

 

I tried to tell him it was nuts, but he’s beyond reason right now. He’s hell bent on getting a pair of wings, and he doesn’t care how many soldiers he has to sacrifice to do it. He told me about it first, seeing as how I was the head scientist and all. He gathered all the info from me he could, (though I didn’t tell him everything, and absolutely nothing about Eren), and then appointed me as head field medic for the war.

 

I stashed my notes on the nymphs in my coat and headed outside to the bonfire. It was late enough now that all the soldiers had gone. It was just me and the fire. I kissed most of my reasearch goodbye and watched it burn, the ink turning the fire different colors as it was consumed. I hated watching it, but Erwin couldn’t find this...I kept only the sheet with my coded notes on it about Eren and his friends. I didn’t want to loose it; it was the most important. I had to hide it.

 

I didn’t go back to my room. There was no point, I knew I couldn’t sleep tonight and I had notes to hide. Instead I saddled up and rode toward the spot where I had first met Eren. Erwin wouldn’t notice a small hole in the ground next to the tree roots. I doubted he would even see the tree for more than a second as he rode by it, anyway. It was the best spot for this.

 

I didn’t bring a shovel with me, so I picked up a rock nearby and dove in. The ground gave away easily, and before long I had made a small hole. I folded up the paper and tucked it in, giving it a quick once over.

 

_Nanaba- she/her, transwoman_

_Iise- they/them, nonbinary_

_Eren- he/him, healing nymph, a real cutie patootie, healed my sunburn and my headache, really useful, really hot, Levi’s future mate_

_Armin- he/him, water nymph, command over water, communication with fish, waterproof feathers_

_Mikasa- she/her, earth nymph, command over nature, specializes in vines and making new species_

_Annie- she/her, air nymph, fly at incredible speeds, defends band and surveys the territory_

_Krista- she/her, fire nymph,_

_Berthold- he/him, beast nymph, communicates with animals_

_Jean- he/him, metal and rock, makes things out of metal and rock_

_Marco- he/him, earth nymph, powerful_

 

I laid it down and had just begun to cover it up when I heard it.

 

“H-Hanje!”

 

I spun around and look toward the sound. Something blurred towards me and I gasped. In a whirlwind of brown, he landed. With his body illuminated in the moonlight and his wings spread wide, I almost felt like I was being visited by an angel. But it was Eren.

 

“Help me! Please!” He fell down to his knees in front of me and breathed deeply.

 

“What do you need?” I fell into field medic mode immediately.  

 

“Hide me!”

 

“From what?” I helped him up and my trained eyes looked over him for injury.

 

“From-from-” He swallowed hard. “From my kind. From nymphs!”

 

My mouth opened in shock and my eyebrows shot up. Why would he need to hide from nymphs? Confusion overtook me and I pushed it down. Now was not the time for questions. Now was the time for action.

 

I took off my Survey Corp cape and held it out to him. “Tuck your wings in as far as they can go and cover yourself with this. Make sure to cover your head with the hood. While we ride, press your face against my back and use one hand to hold the cape closed. It’s dark enough now that no one should be able to identify you without seeing one of those two things. Got it?”

 

“I think.” He took it hesitantly. “Does-does this mean that we are going into…?”

  
“Human territory? Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again sorry about the spacing. I need to figure out how to fix it :C


	10. Tantrum  (JeanMarco 1)

GUESS WHO SURVIVED ANOTHER CRASH!  Me! Another near fatal car crash right after I was done healing from the last one. I think my number is up. I'm relatively okay now. Updates will resume on a more regular scheduale. My mind is kinda fuzzy from being bashed against my skull and all the medications so im keeping this one short. I was gonna just have them bang in a 5k word sloppy fest in the woods but i feel like ive been doing that a lot >. < 

 

Jean’s POV

 

I hated myself. I hated myself _so fucking much._ I hated that I was a disappointment to my parents. I hated that I got my mother’s fucking metal gene instead of my father’s air gene. I hated that I was born "as a girl" and had to transition to become the real me. I hated that I had to cover my chest to feel comfortable instead of going topless like all the other nymphs. I hated that I had to go visit the healer nymphs so they could force my body to produce more testosterone. I hated that I was so useless and fucked up.

“Fuck!” I screamed as loud as I could. It echoed through the woods for a moment, but it didn't matter. No one would hear. I had done what I always did when I got upset: run as far I could until I collapsed on some random unlucky patch of earth deep in the woods.

My breath was ragged, pain radiating from my chest and the taste of blood bitterly creeping up my throat. Spitting harshly in the grass, my emotions threatened to overwhelm me. Tears gathered in my eyes and my vision blurred. Palms down in the grass, I reached out with my power.

Out of all the things that I hated about my power, there was one thing that I enjoyed. The sensations that metal nymphs felt when using their power were intense. The other nymphs had their own sensations, too, of course, but I thought ours sounded the most pleasurable. Far more pleasurable than Yeager, anyway. Feeling others pain must suck.

I envisioned myself and my unlucky patch of earth. The tingling began in my fingertips, and as I forced my mind to search further, the tingling moved up my hand. I skipped over several rocks that were close, streching my range out as far as it would go. The sensation engulfed my arm, creeping over my shoulders and up my neck. My fingertips were tingling so intensely it felt like they were on fire, but in the most familiar, pleasurable way possible.

Finally, I reached my limit. Selecting one of appropriate size, I jerked my arm toward me and felt an electric snap throughout my body. The rock flew through the air until it planted itself firmly in my palm. The rough, uneven surface would not do for my temper tantrum. It was no match for the manipulation of a rock and metal nymphs power and quickly gave way to a smooth, sharp surface.

“Fuck you, Yeager," I said as I stood. Fuck him for showing off by flying into human territory and getting his stupid ass lost. Fuck him for being the center of attention. I was important, too! I bet I could go off into human territory if I wanted to!

Feeling the rock start vibrating in my hand, I dug my heels into the earth and let it fly. It hit the nearest tree in the clearing with a force that was unnatural for a rock the size of my palm. Birds flew out of the tree, sensing the danger. A crack sounded before the tree shook, and I hoped it would tip over. It did not.

“Ugghhh!” I threw another, then another. On my fourth hit, the tree knocked over, crashing down and taking out some small plants with it. I smiled in victory for only a moment before the tree stood back up, my damage being undone in slow motion.

“It’s just a tree!” I spun around, glaring at Marco behind me. He was kneeling down, hands in the grass. He frowned at me as the tree cracked back into place behind us, good as new.

“Respect nature.” His dark brown eyes looked angry yet full of pity at the same time.

“Respect nature? What has nature ever done for me?” Maintaining eye contact, I willed another rock into my hand. I was tempted to aim one at him for following me. I should have figured he'd be out here playing with plants or something.

“It made those rocks you love throwing so much.” Marco’s voice was patient, but I could tell it was running out. “Jean. Put the rock down.”

“Make me.” I knew it was childish, but I didn’t care. Marco’s light golden wings ruffled a bit and I knew I was getting to him.

“I don’t want to fight.” He stood up slowly. Okay, he was trying.

I dropped the rock then crossed my arms over my chest, hating the feeling of the white fabric wrapped tightly around my breasts. I was one of the only ones who covered their chest. Most of the other transmale nymphs didn’t cover their chests, and I didn’t know why. How can anyone feel okay when their body was wrong?

“Does this have something to do with you being transgender?” Marco moved toward me and put his hand on my shoulder. I jerked away from him.

“No! This has something to do with Eren! Flying off into human territory like an idiot! He thinks he’s so badass! He thinks he’s better than me! I’m better than him! I’m-” I was shaking by the time Marco cut me off.

“Where is the anger coming from?”

“From everyone focusing on Yaeger! What’s so great about-”

“Where is the anger coming from?” He asked gently.

“Just- God, Marco. Just leave me alone.” I sat down in a huff, tucking my gray wings behind me and pulling up my knees. I didn’t want to talk to him about how I needed constant reassurance because I felt like a disappointment. I didn’t want to talk to him about how I always acted like I had something to prove because I _did_ have something to prove. I struggled to prove my worth everyday, not only as a rock nymph, but also as a man without a penis.

“Hey, buddy.” The grass grew up thicker and softer underneath me as he sat down beside of me. “Talk to me.”

“Don’t wanna talk.” I huffed. I especially did not want to talk to Marco, the one nymph I had been crushing on for the longest time. There was no way in hell he - a powerful earth nymph with gorgeous golden wings - would want some useless gray winged rock nymph.

“Okay. We don’t have to. Just know that if you want to, I’m here for you.” He stretched his legs out in front of him and looked over all his beautiful fawn colored skin. Dark hair ran up and down his legs and I felt jealousy rise up in me. I would give anything to be able to grow hair like a cisgender man.

“Thanks, Marco.” I blushed slightly as his warm hand touched my own. My heart stuttered and I cursed my gay little heart.

_He’s just being nice._

_He’s just being nice._

_He’s just being nice._

I couldn’t look too hard into this. Marco was a good guy, and he often times would sit and talk to nymphs who were having a hard time. He has said before he was gay, but his touching me didn’t mean anything.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” He said. I peeked to the side at him. His head was tilted up to sun. I watched the way the sunlight shimmered on his wings. There was no way he could ever want a man who was so...inadequate in so many ways.

“Yeah.” I hoped to god it wasn’t something related to my being trans.

“Why do you cover your chest?”

God. Damn. It.

“I don’t like my, ugh, _breasts_.” I stretched my legs out next to his, but quickly pulled them back to me when I saw how little leg hair I had compared to him.

“You know the band is very trans positive. No one will misgender you based on your bre-” I squeezed his hand hard. He stopped talking.

“I don’t like them, okay? I’m more comfortable when they are tied down.”

“Okay. You are doing it safely, though? Not too tight? Not hurting yourself?” That was Marco, always looking out for others.

“Yeah.” I started getting butterflies in my stomach as his thumb ran over my hand. My wings fluttered without my permission, giving me away.

“You okay? Your wings…” He whispered.

“I...Marco, I’m gonna just lay it out there. Are you interested in mating me?” I looked away from him and held my breath. I told myself that no matter his answer, I would be fine. If he said no, that would be okay. I would just throw rocks at trees until I couldn’t feel myself anymore. If he said yes...that would be something else entirely.

“Jean?” His voice trembled a bit. “You...Are you sure this is a good time to talk about this? You’re emotional about Eren and-”

“Please, Marco. I gotta know.” I was already preparing myself for the worst.

“Yes. I...I do want to mate you, Jean.” Marco leaned in closer. “If you want me, too, that is.”

_He’s not just being nice._

_He’s not just being nice._

_He’s not just being nice._

“Okay.” I let out the deep breath I had been holding. I let go of his hand and laid down in the grass, trying to relax. “Okay. Now.”

“What?” He looked down at me, his brow wrinkling.

“Okay. Get on me.” I took another deep breath and relaxed. “I’m keeping my chest covered, though.”

“You want me to? What? Right now?” Marco kneeled beside of me, looking over my exposed legs I could feel the heat in my cheeks and knew I must be bright red.

“Yeah. I-I can handle it.” I started to reach down to remove my bottoms but my hands trembled too much. I didn’t want Marco to see my hesitation so I reached down and grasped at the grass.

“No, you can’t.” Marco was gentle as he held out his hand.

“I can. Just fuck me.” I could handle it. It was just in and out a couple times, right? I could do that. Then I would have mate and maybe my life would get better.

“No.” He sighed, still holding his hand out.

“Please?” I said, yet I grabbed his hand and let him pull me into a sitting position.

“No.” He let go of my hand and moved it to stroke my face gently. “I won’t mate you until I know we are both ready.”

“Okay.” I breathed, noticing how close he was to me now. I felt butterflies in my stomach and I tipped my face up to be closer to him.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Fuck, yes.” I brought my hands up to his head and met took the kiss before he did. His lips were firm and warm, moving tentatively beneath mine. This wasn’t my first kiss, but it sure felt like it was. His lips against mine sent tingles all over my body. I melted against him as he became my only focus.

I pulled back when I felt something brush my leg. Looking down, I was surprised to find a few flowers had popped up around us. “Uhhh...Marco?”

“Huh?” He sounded a little intoxicated and I looked back into his chocolate eyes.His breath fanned over my face and I stayed there for a moment, my lips tingling and my hands in his hair. We breathed each other’s air and I almost forgot about the flowers until another one brushed up against my leg.

“There’s flowers.” I mumbled to him.

“Huh?” He whispered, lips almost touching mine. “Oh! Uh…”

    “What is it?” I asked as he pulled out of my grip, skin turning red underneath his freckles.

    “I can’t help it. When earth nymphs get, uh, emotional, sometimes things happen.” He reached out and stroked a pink flower petal with his thumb.

    “Oh.” I was making him feel things.“You sure you don’t want to mate with me?”

    “Not yet.” He look back at me, eyes crinkling in a giant smile. “I love you and I want our mating to be special.”

    “Can we keep kissing?” I wanted his lips on me again.

    “Yes.” He laughed, leaning into me.

    I was much more insistent this time. I didn’t waste anytime grabbing his top lip between my own and nibbling on it. He kissed me gently for a few moments before sneaking his tongue out and playing with my lip. I parted my lips wider and allowed him to slip his tongue in. He explored my mouth for a few moments before stroking my tongue with his own. Our kisses got sloppier and I could feel the sexual tension rising.

    I made the first move. His hands were in the grass between us and that was not where I wanted them. I took my hands from his hair, stroking down his chest to grab one of his hands. I brought it to my thigh and returned my hand to his hair.

    He kept his hand still for a moment, then began rub my thigh. His hand was hot and insistent, parting my legs and massaging the soft part of my inner thigh. He wasn’t touching anything particularly sensitive, but just him being close to touching my most private part made me tingle. I moaned into his mouth and he inched further up my thigh. I parted my legs wider, but got hit by a wave of self consciousness. 

    “Damn it!” I mumbled against his lips. His pulled his hand from my thigh like I’d burned him. He pulled back from my face and looked worried.

    “Jean? Did I mess up?”

    “No. I, uh, got a cramp in my leg. That’s all.” It was a shitty lie.  I bit my lip before looking away from his relieved eyes. “I think I should lay down.” I didn’t add that it would make me more comfortable to lay down so my chest would flatten out.

    “If that’s what you want to do. I’ll do what I can.” His blush made his freckles stand out more. I was confused as to what he meant until he put both hands in the ground and made the grass grow more and more underneath us. It provided a nice cushion when I laid down.

    “Thanks.” I whispered, unsure of how to invite him to continue.

    “Should I...uh...put my hand back?” His feathers ruffled in embarrassment.

    “Yes.” I was started to get excited. I could feel my little transman dick stretching out, looking for something to rub on. I momentarily felt a bit of self conscious panic. What if he didn't like my body? The feeling was quickly buried as he laid down next to me and slowly reached a hand over to rest on my thigh again.

         " What should we do now? " I closed my eyes and let the warm, heavy feeling of his hand comfort me. I felt connected to someone at last. My stomach was full of butterflies.

        " Whatever you want to do. " He stroked up and down my thigh. 

          "Mmmmmm," I purred. "Just stay here forever with me."

           I expected him to tell me that wasn't possible, that we had to return to the band soon. He was an earth nymph and the band depended upon him and his fellow earth nymphs every day. He had duties, things that had to be done for the greater good of the band. It was selfish of me to want to keep him.

          "Okay, " he slid his hand up my thigh and over my sides. I believed him. We would stay here forever. 

           Passionate kisses were sprinkled all over my face and neck. Fingers lingered in not so innocent places. Flowers blossomed around us. I melted into the grass of my unlucky, yet very lucky patch of earth. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two will be in Marcos point of view. it will be published at some point eventually.


End file.
